Twitter unhappy with MS Dhoni's slow innings in the first ODI against Australia

The Indian team began the One Day International series with a loss by 34 runs. Batting first, the Australian openers were dismissed early. However, the middle order came to the rescue. Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, and Peter Handscomb contributed with splendid fifties. Marcus Stoinis’ finishing exploits meant the hosts had 288/5 on the board.

The visitors were off to a poor start at the SCG. Shikhar Dhawan was out in the very first over as he was trapped in front of the stumps by Jason Behrendorff. Youngster Jhye Richardson then sent back both Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu in the fourth over. With the score 4/3, the onus fell upon Rohit Sharma and MS Dhoni to avoid a collapse and get India through.

With India already three wickets down, both slowed down in the course of their innings. While Rohit gained momentum soon and started accelerating, Dhoni continued to guard the wicket. Initially, he took 37 balls for scoring the first 6 runs. Though he increased his pace later, the strike-rate remained around 50 which is extremely low in this form of cricket.

After completing his half-century, Dhoni seemed to be in a mood to accelerate. However, the wicketkeeper-batsman ended up being castled LBW by Behrendorff. The ball seemed to have pitched outside the line but with no DRS, Dhoni had to return back to the pavilion. A knock of 51(96) was certainly not going to impress anyone.

Twitter raised their voice against Dhoni’s slow knock. Many felt that if he had played lesser dot balls, the result of the match could’ve been different. Others made the comparison of his innings to a Test knock. Some of the people arrived to the conclusion that Dhoni is no longer the batsman he once was.

Here are some of the tweets in regards to Dhoni’s leisurely innings of 51(96)

MS Dhoni retired from the wrong format in 2014

— Anil Kumble (@CoachKumble) January 12, 2019

Is MS Dhoni trying for a Test comeback?

— Madhav Sharma (@HashTagCricket) January 12, 2019

See? That's what Dhoni's dots do.The pressure mounts to the batsman at the other side and he has to take desperate measures and more often perishes

— Denzophobia (@MadMart05) January 12, 2019

Seriously, amazing hai yaar ke how blind fans still can’t see ke Dhoni is finished. It’s only going to get worse.

— Jitender Singh (@j_dhillon6) January 12, 2019

Dhoni didn't get chance to play test series so he is contributing now by playing test in ODI. Legends never go off duty

— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) January 12, 2019

What Dhoni does to strike rate. pic.twitter.com/I5mjJ1o3WV

— The Sarcastic Jerk (@The_Sarcastic_J) January 12, 2019

If MS Dhoni was Pakistani he’d have been accused of match fixing for this innings 😂😂

— Bilal 🇿🇦🔥 (@billz_25) January 12, 2019

It would've been better if MS Dhoni retired from limited Overs cricket instead Test Cricket.

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 12, 2019

Dhoni is answering to those haters who were saying – Risabh pant is better test player than Dhoni.

— Squint Neon (@squintneon) January 12, 2019

Now imagine Dhoni chasing 300+ in a WC knockout game.

— Jitender Singh (@j_dhillon6) January 12, 2019

Dhoni Playing Right now .. #AUSvIND #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/xCi6s0xx8I

— Loveyouall_007 (@loveyouall_007) January 12, 2019

Dhoni & Sharma are trying to see the new ball off and then may be accelerate after Tea.

— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) January 12, 2019

India's answer to Australia's retro kit is Dhoni's retro strike rate of 50.

— cricBC (@cricBC) January 12, 2019

Admirers – MS Dhoni did awesomely well. That's Wrong.

Doubters – MS Dhoni was the sole reason for this loss. That's Wrong.

Reality – MS Dhoni resurrected the innings but played way too many dot balls for it.

Conclusion – MS Dhoni is still out of form after all.#AUSvIND

— Arjun (@LifeIsAnElation) January 12, 2019

I don't think there's anything new to be learnt about Dhoni. He's not the player he used to be. But, more importantly, ODI cricket has moved on from when he was at his best. Tendulkar had this great ability to keep up as the game advanced. Dhoni hasn't got that extreme ability.

— cricketingview (@cricketingview) January 12, 2019

My friends decided to trek to the peek of Nandi Hill once. This one guy kept asking to conserve energy in the afternoon sun and walk slow with frequent breaks. We can make pace in the evening he said. By the time we reached the peek the gates were closed.

Dhoni is that guy today

— cricBC (@cricBC) January 12, 2019

Dhoni is so bad that if he gets an LBW appeal given not out against him then India should review it.

— ░S░I░M░🏏🏈 (@SimUKCricket) January 12, 2019

It's that time again folks. Scoring rate (rpo) in last 12 months:

MS Dhoni in ODIS – 4.28rpo

Rishabh Pant in Tests – 4.42rpo#AUSvIND

— Ben Jones (@benjonescricket) January 12, 2019

What a 🐐 Dhoni is, scores a 50 in 98 balls and gets out knowing India needs to accelerate now.

-Tweep living in Dhonial.#AUSvIND

— سانیا Saniya (@touche_always) January 12, 2019