Former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was tremendously criticised for his performance in the first T20I against Australia in Vishakhapatnam. His slow batting rate under a crucial situation, somewhere or the other, made him the villain until he returned strongly to give it back to the Aussies in the next face-off on Wednesday.
After Rahul’s 47-run knock, India lost Shikhar Dhawan and Rishabh Pant in quick successions. Before the things could turn ugly, Dhoni and his successor shifted gear and turned the game upside down. While captain Kohli showed no mercy on the opponent bowlers, Dhoni gave some fitting replies to his haters.
And then came the penultimate over when the former skipper proved why he will always be remembered as one of the nicest strikers of the cricket ball. D’Arcy Short was into the attack who tossed the ball up which was in the arc and Dhoni didn’t hesitate unleashing the monstrous hit, sending it into the 2nd tear.
Here’s the video:
Dhoni continued making big gains in Short's over that went for 19 runs, including two sixes and a four. It was not the best of decisions from captain Aaron Finch to go with spin in the 18th over, especially with the destructive Dhoni at the crease.
Finally, Pat Cummins helped the visitors get rid of a dangerous looking Dhoni in the final over. However, it was too late as incoming batsman Dinesh Karthik and Kohli displayed some fireworks to propel India to a fighting 190/4 in the allotted 20 overs.