IPl 2016: Ian Bishop believes bowlers have found a weakness in MS Dhoni's technique

Dhoni’s only fifty-plus score came in the final match of the season

One of the talking points in this IPL has been the contrasting fortunes of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. While the veteran’s Rising Pune Supergiants finished second last, the young star’s Royal Challengers Bangalore were the runners-up.

One of the most respected commentators going around, Ian Bishop felt that bowlers had found a ‘chink in Dhoni’s armor’ which was the reason behind the 34-year old’s slump in form. Speaking to India Today, the erstwhile West Indies fast bowler also lauded Kohli’s impeccable run of form.

Bishop revealed, “I saw it closely during the IPL and I interact with West Indians who gave me first-hand feedback about Dhoni's strengths and weakness. Bowlers now have found a chink in his armour. They bowl back of a length. They bowl shorter and don't go for yorkers at the end of the innings. It's now for MS to fight back.”

His reasoning is backed by the fact that Dhoni struggled with the bat in the recently concluded IPL edition. The wicket-keeper batsman could only manage 284 runs from 14 matches which included only one half-century.

Admittedly, RPSG were grappled by injuries to several key players such as Kevin Pietersen, Steve Smith and Faf du Plessis. However, Dhoni‘s usually calculated strategies and powerful batting performances went missing in the tournament.

Earlier, former Indian Team Director, Ravi Shastri had quipped that Kohli should immediately take over the national captaincy from the seasoned campaigner in the limited-overs formats as well. Despite remaining non-committal to the idea, Bishop heaped praise on the RCB skipper’s astounding consistency.

The Trinidad-based stalwart affirmed, “I am not qualified to say what Ravi has as he has been inside the system. It's hard to gauge as leadership is just not what we see. It's man management and intellect. But what I have seen of Virat, he is passionate and leading by example. Time will come eventually where I see that happening.”

Dhoni’s next assignment will be leading the limited-overs team to Zimbabwe before Kohli returns from a well-deserved break during the 4-Test series against West Indies.