ICC World Cup 2019 | MS Dhoni's knock against New Zealand was outstanding, claims Virat Kohli

ICC World Cup 2019 | MS Dhoni's knock against New Zealand was outstanding, claims Virat Kohli

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Indian skipper Virat Kohli has stated that MS Dhoni's knock against the Kiwis was an outstanding one, despite India falling marginally short of victory. Walking in to bat with the score 71/5, Dhoni struck a valiant fifty batting alongside Jadeja but was undone by a Martin Guptill direct hit.

When Indian fans thought they had lost all hope, MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja stitched a 116-run partnership for the seventh wicket, almost taking the team home from an improbable position. After the departure of Jadeja, Dhoni was India's last hope, but the former Indian skipper was undone by an outstanding pinpoint accurate direct hit by Martin Guptill. 

While Dhoni has come under fire from a certain set of fans for letting the pressure get to Jadeja, he has received plenty of support from the majority of the cricketing fraternity and skipper Virat Kohli was one of the many who hailed Dhoni for his brave knock which almost took India home. 

"Well, look, it's always, you know, a safer option to look at it from the outside and say, 'Maybe this could have happened' but I think today he was batting with Jadeja and there was only Bhuvi to follow after. So he had to hold one end together in my opinion," Kohli said in the post-match press conference.

"Jadeja was playing so well and you needed a solid partnership and to get a 100-run partnership from that situation, I think it had to be the right balance of one guy holding an end (Dhoni) and Jadeja playing the way he did. His knock was outstanding," he added, praising Dhoni's knock. 

Another hot topic of discussion has been the potential ODI retirement of MS Dhoni, with several people believing that the 38-year-old's retirement is imminent. However, Kohli has shut down speculation surrounding it, stating that Dhoni has not spoken to anyone about it.  "No he hasn't told us anything as of now," he said, speaking about Dhoni's retirement. 

Several eyebrows were raised when Dhoni was sent in to bat at No.7 below Hardik Pandya, and when quizzed about that very decision, Kohli explained that the plan was to let Dhoni control the damage, hold one end and take the chase deep, so that he can tee off in the last five overs.

"Well, he's been given that role after the first few games of being in a situation where he can, if the situation is bad, he can control one end like he did today or if there is a scenario where there are six or seven overs left, he can go and strike," Kohli said, defending the decision to send Dhoni at no.7. 

When asked if he would have liked the batsmen to approach the innings differently, Kohli came to their defence stating that it was up to the batsmen in the middle to assess the conditions, adding that they would know the situation better than anyone else. 

"Again, it is very easy for me to say yes, we could have or no, it was fine. So, we leave the responsibility to the two guys in the middle to make decisions because eventually, as an individual, you play one ball at a time yourself and then you are talking with your partner," Kohli said. 

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