‘Dhoni’s face told me he wanted to win that game,’ Holding defends India against claims of intentionally losing to England
Last week, England all-rounder Ben Stokes, in his book, said he saw lack of intent from MS Dhoni while India were batting in the final 10 overs of their chase.
Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding has defended India against some outrageous claims which suggest they intentionally lost to England in the 2019 World Cup league match. Last week, England all-rounder Ben Stokes in his book, had claimed he saw lack of intent from MS Dhoni while India were batting in the final 10 overs of their chase.
Holding said Stokes believing so could stem from the fact that he has a book to sell and that at no point did he feel that India were deliberately trying to lose to ensure arch-rivals Pakistan were knocked out.
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“Well, people will write anything in books these days. Because people are a lot freer with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times,” Holding said on his YouTube Channel.
“But, to be honest, a lot of people watching that game perhaps wouldn’t have arrived to the same conclusion that Ben Stokes arrived at that India was not trying to win. It wasn’t the game that India had to win, but I don’t think anyone can say that was a team tactic not to win the game”
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India needed 112 off the last 11 overs, but Dhoni, Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav batted with precaution. With 71 needed off the final five, Dhoni and Jadhav did not bring out the big shots despite India having wickets in hand and the former captain finished on 42 off 31 balls. In his book In his new book ‘On Fire’, Stokes said he saw “no intent” from Dhoni during the run chase, while some even believed they did it to make sure Pakistan did not advance. Holding however, had something else to say.
“I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren’t putting up their 100 percent. But when Dhoni realised that that was it, it was over, the expression on his face told me that he himself desperately wanted to win. So I don’t think it was a team decision to not try to win,” the former quick added.
“But I don’t think they went with the same intensity of wanting to win the game, say, if it was a do-or-die situation. If it was, we would have seen a different game.”
Holding sided with India on their approach early in the innings, when the first 10 overs saw just 28 runs being scored between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. KL Rahul had endured a nine-ball duck after Chris Woakes had bowled three consecutive maidens, and even though Rohit and Kohli added 138 for the second wicket to bring India back in contention, Stokes felt their stand was “mystifying”.
“It all depends on conditions. You can’t be chasing a score and decide that in the first 10-15 overs, we have to get this score. It depends on what’s happening with the bowlers, with the pitch, depends on if the ball is moving around. What you make sure is that you don’t give away wickets early in an innings. So I don’t think anyone can question that tactic,” Holding explained.
