New Zealand vs India: The reason why MS Dhoni is not playing the third ODI

Team India has a great chance to seal the five-match ODI series against New Zealand on Monday. The Kiwis are lagging by 0-2 and will have to win the ongoing contest at the Bay Oval where they are batting first. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli is playing his last game on the tour as he has been rested and would love to make it 3-0 before leaving the country. However, the visitors were dealt with a huge blow just before the game as MS Dhoni was ruled out.

The veteran has been in great form with the willow in 2019 and many felt that he has to play as many games as possible before the World Cup. But Kohli surprised everyone by naming the team changes at the toss. India had brought in Hardik Pandya, which was an expected change, and Dinesh Karthik to keep the wickets. Kohli cleared that MS Dhoni was struggling with a sore hamstring and hence wasn’t risked for this encounter.

“Couple of changes. MS has got a sore hamstring, so he misses out this game, Karthik comes back. Hardik comes in place of Vijay Shankar. He brings great balance to the team,” the Indian captain said at the toss.

Dhoni’s golden run

MS Dhoni’s contribution behind the wickets is well known to everyone with the likes of Kuldeep, Chahal and Kedar Jadhav crediting for their success with the ball. His form with the bat was a mere concern coming into the new year and the experienced cricketer hasn’t disappointed. The team backed him during the tough times and he has started to deliver now.

His scores in the last four innings read, 51, 55*,87* and 48* which proves that Dhoni has found his touch back. Though he has not been the hard hitter of the ball like he used to be but the veteran has definitely not forgotten to finish the matches.

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