Nasser Hussain terms MS Dhoni innings at Lord's as 'odd'

One of the points a lot of journalists have brought up following India‘s loss in the second ODI was the diminishing batting abilities of MS Dhoni. While the latter is clearly a crucial cog in the wheel for the Indians, one thing that seems quite clear is the fact that his diminishing prowess with the bat has become rather apparent. Something that was highlighted by cricketer-turned commentator Nasser Hussain.

Speaking about the 37-year old’s innings at Lord’s, Hussain called his batting approach odd, stating that it was a bit surprising that he of all people would bat in such a manner, especially when the Indians were in the situation in the match as they were.

“I thought it was a very odd inning from the greatest-ever finisher in white-ball cricket,” said Hussain on Sky Sports Cricket. “This is the same bloke that in the 2011 World Cup final promoted himself up the order to whack the ball out of the ground and see them beat Sri Lanka in Mumbai.

‘MS Dhoni has taken longer to get going recently’

Speaking about Dhoni’s recent form, Hussain said that Dhoni was becoming a lot rustier as his career moves forward. “Dhoni, more recently, has taken longer to get going, especially when spin is on, so I wasn’t surprised by his start, especially against the leg-spin of Adil Rashid. But I was surprised he never really played a shot in anger until he got out. Who are we to criticise MS Dhoni? But, I’d rather India have gone down with a bit of a fight than a whimper.”

He was also not surprised that Virat Kohli defended the skipper. “I wasn’t surprised at all by captain Virat Kohli’s answer at the presentation, saying Dhoni cops a bit of unfair criticism. Believe me, in this Indian side, the regime and culture is you do not criticise your ‘seniors’ as they call them.”

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com.