VIDEO | A full-stretched MS Dhoni takes a stunning catch in no manâs land
BCCI
A majority of India had woken to a new villain Saturday morning â MSK Prasad â who was audacious enough to drop MS Dhoni from the Indian T20I squad of Windies and Australia. And the chief selectorâs day was only going to get worse as MSD looked to be at his best against Windies in the third ODI.
After getting a taste of his own chasing prowess by Shai Hope, Virat Kohli didnât spend a second in opting to field as soon as he had won the toss. With Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar returning to the squad, Indiaâs bowling sting had also returned as the hosts remained immensely hopeful of taking a lead in the five-match series.
The first victim of the rejuvenated Indian side was Chandrapaul Hemraj, who hadnât been in good touch anyway, managing just 41 runs in the last two matches. However, for the Pune crowd, the obvious breakthrough was transformed into a moment of absolute delight as they saw their fallen hero covering a large area before grabbing the catch.
Poor form, lack of reflexes, or the receding confidence - no matter how many reasons the team management would come up with for their decision, the cheer this piece of fielding had drawn was enough to drown them all. Hemraj had failed to judge the ballâs trajectory as the top-edged ball went high up the air, but seemed to fall in one of those no manâs land that is often spotted during the powerplay overs.Â
But, chasing it was MS Dhoni who had once made the entire nation believe that there is no lost cause. The wicket-keeper followed the ball towards the fine leg and dived at full stretch to pluck the ball just before it kissed the ground. The umpire had to go upstairs to check how clean the catch was but that was just a formality, of course. The ground erupted in chants of 'Dhoni, Dhoni' as the big screen flashed OUT.
