MS Dhoni factor was not a problem, Says Bengal's captain Manoj Tiwary

Bengal continued their fairytale journey to the finals of the tournament dismantling an MS Dhoni-led Jharkhand side. MS Dhoni was the only bright spot in Jharkhand’s batting line-up with a well made 70 runs before being dismissed by the left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.

Before the match, Sourav Ganguly flew down to the capital to help Tiwary and his team reduce the x-factor of M S Dhoni. The advice that was given by the former Indian captain was to try bowling wide outside the off-stump to Dhoni. However, Tiwary suggests that his young side was not bogged down by Dhoni’s daunting figure.

“Dada told us that Dhoni is very strong straight so we should try to bowl as much as outside the off-stump. During their innings, the ball started keeping low, so I told my bowlers to bowl a bit straighter. Once he hit (Amir) Gani for two sixes, I told them to bowl outside off-stump,” Tiwary said after the end of day’s play.

He was further asked if he had any word for the youngsters who played Dhoni for the first time, he said ” I spoke to the bowlers when they were bowling, but I didn’t speak to them anything in general. The reason being today’s younger generation of players don’t get intimidated by big names. They have confidence and self-belief. My boys played fearless cricket and bowled well at the death. Full credit to selectors as we are now working with a terrific bunch of talented boys,”

Furthermore, the Bengal skipper did not agree that his left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha had a difficult time this season. He stated that the spinner finished as the joint highest wicket-taker for the State alongside the fast-bowler Ashoke Dinda during the 2015-16 Ranji season.

He concluded saying he would take the spinner’s figure of 5-71 any day with the spinner also dismissing the former Indian captain M S Dhoni which changed the course of the game. M S Dhoni’s dismissal turned the tide in Bengal’s favour and also allowed them to wrap up the match in style.