Dhoni claims India are not heavily reliant on Kohli : “Stats don't reflect the exact scenario”

While chasing 261 at Ranchi on Wednesday, India were looking in a strong position till Virat Kohli was on the crease. However, once he was dismissed by Ish Sodhi in the 20th over, the rest of the middle-order collapsed without any significant contributions. In the post-match press conference, Dhoni was asked whether India have become too reliant on the 27-year-old to perform while chasing a target, to which he replied, "It's not like that. The stats don't exactly reflect the exact scenario."

It's not like that. The stats don't exactly reflect the exact scenario.

Dhoni

Apart from their wins in Zimbabwe in the last two years, India are yet to win a bilateral ODI series since November 2014 and they are in a position where they could lose another one against the Kiwis. Dhoni has pointed towards the lack of ODI matches as a reason for their struggle in this series so far.

"We have not played much ODIs. In between we had Zimbabwe. It's very difficult.

"Also I've batted at a different position in that period. Our top order was batting brilliantly. So everything is very different," he explained, reported Zee News.

Dhoni drew parallel with this loss to the 6-run defeat in the 2nd ODI at Delhi and said that the pitch was on the slower side. He said, "There have been a couple of game where the wicket has been on the slower side, where the opposition if they scored 300-plus there's more often you keep playing your shots to chase it down.

"When the wickets are slow, and required run-rate is not too high, that's when you calculate and play out a few overs thinking of a partnership. I feel that's where it lies as of now. We have quite a few batsmen who can do the job."

"The partnership was needed more than anything else at that point in time. Given the requirement of the game, he was batting well and generally he bats in that fashion. I don't think there was anything wrong in it.”