Nasser Hussain labels MS Dhoni’s innings as ‘Odd’ as India fall an 86-run defeat

Virat Kohli & Co. were second best in yesterday’s ODI at Lord’s which seen the home team race away to a convincing victory as they levelled the three-match ODI series 1-1. England set India a competitive target of 323 after they finished at 322/7 courtesy a brilliant Joe Root innings of 113. But the visitors, who won the previous match, were unable to do the same this time around as the batting line-up failed to match the standards of the English team and ultimately lost the match by a margin of 86 runs.

However, former England skipper, Nasser Hussain, was more concerned about the performance of world cup winning captain - MS Dhoni who appeared to be content with etching out ones and twos in the latter stages of the innings instead of going all out for a win. Hussain added that it was a rather odd batting display from the CSK skipper and questioned India’s tactics on the same.

"I thought it was a very odd innings from the greatest-ever finisher in white-ball cricket. This is the same bloke that in the 2011 World Cup final promoted himself up the order to whack the ball out of the ground and see them beat Sri Lanka in Mumbai.

"Dhoni, more recently, has taken longer to get going, especially when spin is on, so I wasn't surprised by his start, especially against the leg-spin of Adil Rashid. But I was surprised he never really played a shot in anger until he got out. Who are we to criticise MS Dhoni? But, I'd rather India have gone down with a bit of a fight than a whimper, " said Hussain on Sky Sports Cricket. 

Hussain added that he wasn’t surprised at Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s answer at the post-match presentation when asked about the unfair criticism directed towards Dhoni and other Indian players.

"I wasn't surprised at all by captain Virat Kohli's answer at the presentation, saying Dhoni cops a bit of unfair criticism. Believe me, in this Indian side, the regime and culture is you do not criticise your 'seniors' as they call them.

"What would the Indian press be like if Kohli had a go at Dhoni at a press conference? It's just not going to happen. You back your seniors all the time. But it was a very odd innings - it looked like he was just having a net and preparing himself for the next game.

"It didn't cost India the game - I don't think he'd have got them over the line anyway - but there were a lot of people in here who had spent a lot of money to watch the game, a lot of them coming to see Dhoni, and I don't think they got their money's worth from him today," Hussain added.