India v Australia 2019: Glenn Maxwell defends MS Dhoni's slow innings in 1st T20I
What's the story?
A patchy 37-ball 29* by veteran Indian batsman MS Dhoni attracted much criticism as India went down by three wickets against Australia in the last over. Interestingly, he received support from Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell. According to the hard-hitting right-hander, it was probably the right thing to do.
Also Read: India vs Australia 2019 - 3 mistakes that cost India the first T20I
"It [farming the strike] was probably fair enough," Maxwell said, "with the way the wicket was - being difficult to score for any batter, let alone a guy who is not known for his power-hitting in Chahal. MS is obviously a world-class finisher and even he was finding it hard to hit the middle of the bat. So, I think it was right of him to try and farm the strike."
"He hit a six in the last over and I think that's the sign - he hit one six and they only got seven of the over. Shows you how difficult it is. If you hold MS to one boundary in the last few overs, it's a pretty big effort." Maxwell pointed out.
In case you didn't know...
Batting first under lights in Visakhapatnam, India got off to a solid start, scoring 80 in the first 10 overs. A sudden string of collapse halted the hosts' momentum. From 80/2, India were restricted to 109/7 in the next seven overs.
The Australian pacers didn't offer much space to Dhoni and kept him under check. He managed to hit just one six and refused to take numerous singles in order to retain strike. India could score mere 46 runs in the final ten overs.
The heart of the matter
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah, too, echoed Maxwell's views on Dhoni's knock. According to Bumrah, Dhoni was just trying to take the game deep as they had already lost wickets in a cluster. He feels India were 15-20 runs short yet got enough to put up a fight.
Dhoni's struggle with the bat at Vizag is now India's second-lowest strike rate for an innings of at least 35 balls. The hosts though tried to pull back things but Umesh Yadav's last over didn't go according to the plan.
What's next?
With Australia taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series, Virat Kohli's men will look to bounce back and equalize the scoreline in Bengaluru. The 2nd T20I has been slated to take place on 27th February.