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| MS dhoni crying after world cup semifinal loss |
What MS dhoni got criticism
Writing
In the 2019 World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand, MS Dhoni scored 50 runs off 72 balls.
Many people believe that Dhoni played too slowly and that if he had scored a little faster, India might have been able to chase down the target. However, I think there is another side to this argument.
Dhoni took the game deep, and along with Ravindra Jadeja, he brought India very close to the target. Jadeja scored a brilliant 77 off 59 balls, while Dhoni scored 50 off 72 balls.
Dhoni was also criticised because, during the partnership, Ravindra Jadeja was scoring at a much faster rate compared to him. While Dhoni was playing at a relatively slow pace, Jadeja was taking on the New Zealand bowlers and scoring boundaries regularly.
Another point that some people bring up is that there are clips from the match where Dhoni appears to deliberately leave certain deliveries. In some of these moments, the ball looked like one that could have been attacked, and even Lockie Ferguson seemed surprised that Dhoni chose to leave it.
These moments have added to the debate around Dhoni's approach in that semi-final. Was he deliberately trying to take the game deep and avoid losing his wicket, or did he miss opportunities to score runs when India desperately needed them?
What experts say about MS dhoni's Inning
Experts often consider MS Dhoni's innings in the 2019 World Cup semi-final to be a masterclass in handling pressure. After India lost wickets very early, Dhoni played the kind of innings that is consistent with his natural style—stabilising the innings, preventing further wickets from falling, and taking the game deep.
When people compare Ravindra Jadeja's faster scoring with Dhoni's relatively slow innings, experts have another explanation. Jadeja was able to play so aggressively because MS Dhoni was holding the other end. In situations like this, a senior player often takes on the anchor role while allowing the other batsman to attack and take more risks.
The idea is simple: keep the partnership going, avoid losing both wickets, and allow the more aggressive batsman to take the higher-risk shots. If a wicket does fall, you would rather lose the player who is taking those risks than the player who is playing the anchor role and trying to control the innings.
There is also another possible explanation for the clips involving Lockie Ferguson. According to this argument, the over being discussed was Ferguson's final over of the match. At that stage, Ferguson was arguably the only New Zealand bowler who still looked capable of creating a breakthrough, while the overs of other key bowlers, including Trent Boult, had already been completed.
So perhaps Dhoni was not simply refusing to attack. He may have been trying to play Ferguson out safely, preserve his wicket, and take advantage of the remaining overs once New Zealand's main attacking options had been exhausted.
This is why Dhoni's innings remains so debatable. One side sees a batsman who scored too slowly when India needed runs. The other sees a senior player who understood the situation, protected his wicket, allowed Jadeja to attack, and tried to take the chase as deep as possible.
What if Dhoni have batted at number 5
If MS Dhoni had come in to bat at No. 5 in that 2019 World Cup semi-final, the result of the match could have been completely different.
You are talking about one of India's most experienced players—a player who was known for finishing games and had proved himself repeatedly over the years. Whenever India lost quick wickets, Dhoni was often the player who stepped up and helped the team recover from difficult situations.
So when you keep pushing a player like that down the batting order and eventually send him in at No. 7 or No. 8, you are not really making the best use of his potential.
It also makes it much easier to criticise him afterwards. People say, "Why didn't Dhoni play attacking shots?" But imagine the situation if seven wickets had already fallen and Dhoni had come in, started playing big shots immediately, and got out while trying to attack.
The criticism would have been enormous.
This is why his batting position also needs to be considered when judging his innings. You cannot expect a player to perform the same role at No. 7 that he could have performed at No. 5, especially when that player has spent years proving that he can handle pressure, rebuild an innings, and finish games for his team.
MS Dhoni's slow inning is much faster than the rest
Another important point comes into the picture when people describe MS Dhoni's innings as "too slow" or say that he simply did not play well enough.
If we actually look at the batting statistics from that match, the picture becomes much more interesting.
MS Dhoni scored 50 runs from 72 balls, with a strike rate of 69.44.
But look at the other Indian batsmen:
- Rohit Sharma: 1 off 4 balls — SR 25.00
- KL Rahul: 1 off 7 balls — SR 14.28
- Virat Kohli: 1 off 6 balls — SR 16.66
- Rishabh Pant: 32 off 56 balls — SR 57.14
- Hardik Pandya: 32 off 62 balls — SR 51.61
- Dinesh Karthik: 6 off 25 balls — SR 24.00
- MS Dhoni: 50 off 72 balls — SR 69.44
- Ravindra Jadeja: 77 off 59 balls — SR 130.50
So when we look at the complete scorecard, it becomes difficult to simply say that Dhoni was the reason India played slowly.
In fact, apart from Ravindra Jadeja's outstanding counter-attacking innings, Dhoni had one of the better strike rates among India's batsmen that day.
But there is another factor that is often ignored: the situation in which each batsman came to the crease.
When Rohit Sharma came in, India had not lost seven wickets. When Virat Kohli came in, the situation was completely different. Even when Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik came to bat, there were still experienced players lower down the order who could potentially take responsibility if another wicket fell.
But when MS Dhoni came to the crease, India were already under enormous pressure after losing four wickets for just 24 runs, and the situation became even more difficult as the innings progressed.
By the time Dhoni and Jadeja were together, India were 92/6. At that point, the priority was not simply to hit every ball. The priority was to survive, build a partnership, and keep the chase alive.
And this is where I think Dhoni's innings should be viewed differently.
Perhaps it was not a slow innings.
Perhaps it was a paced innings.
Dhoni was trying to control the tempo of the chase according to the situation. He allowed Jadeja to attack from the other end while he concentrated on staying there, protecting his wicket, and taking the game as deep as possible.
Jadeja's 77 off 59 made the partnership look completely different because he was attacking almost everything he could. But that does not automatically mean Dhoni was doing nothing.
Someone had to play the stabilising role.
And when you consider that India were already seven wickets down, the value of simply having an experienced player like Dhoni at the crease was enormous.
So, rather than judging the innings only by the strike rate of 69.44, perhaps we should ask a different question:
Was MS Dhoni actually playing too slowly—or was he pacing an extremely difficult chase according to the situation?
That is what makes the 2019 World Cup semi-final such an interesting debate even today.
M S Dhoni got emotional during the interview
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| MS dhoni crying after a loss against New Zealand in the semifinal |
During the post-match presentation, when MS Dhoni was being interviewed, his eyes were visibly moist. His facial expressions made it clear how disappointed and heartbroken he was after the loss.
Perhaps, somewhere in the back of his mind, Dhoni already had a feeling that this could be his final World Cup match. And what makes it even more painful is how close he was to once again proving his value in a situation that looked almost impossible to win.
If you look at the final stages of the match, India were actually getting extremely close. After Jadeja's dismissal, Dhoni was still there, and there was a realistic possibility of taking the game to the final over.
With roughly 24 runs needed from the remaining nine balls, even a couple of boundaries or twos in the next few deliveries could have changed the entire equation. If India had managed to bring the requirement down to around 20 runs from the final over, with Jimmy Neesham expected to bowl that over, I genuinely believe Dhoni would have had a very good chance of finishing the chase.
In my opinion, seven times out of ten, MS Dhoni could have taken that situation to the finish line.
But cricket does not always follow logic.
Perhaps that day, luck was simply on New Zealand's side. They were able to hold their nerve at the crucial moment, and India fell just short.
Maybe that is what makes the defeat even more painful for Dhoni. He was not far away from turning one of the most difficult situations into another legendary finish. He was just a few deliveries away.
Conclusion
My conclusion is that India did not lose that match because of one particular player.
New Zealand simply outplayed India on that day. Their bowling performance was outstanding, especially considering the pitch and the overcast conditions. They understood how to use those conditions and showed exactly how to bowl on a difficult surface.
On the other hand, India's batting did not show the same level of responsibility.
If you take MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja out of the equation, I don't think many of India's other batsmen showed the same level of responsibility under pressure. Look at Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant, for example. Both got out playing shots that could have been avoided in that situation.
But ultimately, this was not an individual player's failure.
Cricket is a team game. You cannot say that one player lost the match when the entire team contributed to the result.
New Zealand performed better as a team that day, handled the conditions brilliantly, and deserved to win.
So instead of blaming MS Dhoni for playing slowly or blaming any other individual, we should look at the bigger picture: India lost as a team, and New Zealand won as a team.
That's what sport is all about.
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