Mohali: Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni acknowledged on Sunday that his finishing abilities are on the wane as India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the third ODI riding on Virat Kohli’s sterling century.
Kohli’s unbeaten 154 drove India to their 286-run target in 48.2 overs as the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the five-match one-day series.
Kohli and Dhoni, who scored 80, were involved in a 151-run third-wicket partnership that set up the comprehensive win.
However Dhoni, who promoted himself to number four in the batting order, departed in the 36th over, leaving Kohli and Manish Pandey to get 94 more runs.
“To some extent I am losing an ability to freely rotate in the middle, so I have decided to bat up and let the others finish,” said Dhoni.
Once regarded as one of the best finishers in limited-overs cricket, Dhoni has recently found it difficult to bat at his usual number six position.
His laboured knock failed to take India over the line in their previous game in New Delhi, one of the few instances when the wicketkeeper-batsman has faltered while chasing.
Dhoni, who recorded his 61st ODI fifty and went past the 9,000-run mark, hit three towering sixes during his 91-ball stay before falling to fast bowler Matt Henry.
“But I know I should still look for the big shots. Once you get 15-20 runs, you get into the groove. There were points in the middle where I had to pull myself from playing big shots,” said Dhoni.
Meanwhile Kohli, who recorded his 26th ODI ton, made the most of a reprieve after he was dropped on six by Ross Taylor at gully off Matt Henry to consolidate his position as India’s batting mainstay.
“He is somebody who has learnt a lot and he is somebody who knows his strengths really well. It’s very difficult to say what the top level is in cricket, but Kohli has done India proud,” said Dhoni.
Kohli was modesty personified as he attributed his knock to “a bit of luck.”
“Bit of luck went my way, I feel sorry for Ross Taylor, it’s never easy to drop a catch and the batsman carries through. I’ve done that and Brendon McCullum got 300 in Wellington,” Kohli said referring to the drop catch when the batsman was on six. .
“We may have given a bit too much to New Zealand, but we took it as an opportunity to chase them down, because we know we are a good chasing team. Good to have MS up the order, and Manish Pandey gave me confidence as well when he came in.
“We fed off each other, I fed off MS as well. And it wasn’t the easiest pitch. Some balls were stopping on us. In the past I have tried to play out of my skin, getting overexcited, but I’ve realised if I can time the ball, and hit the gaps and run hard, I can still get runs. If a bowler can hit the right areas a be good, a batsman can be good playing proper shots,” Kohli said.
Talking about the partnership with Dhoni, he said, “Me and MS had a chat, he took on the spinner, even his mistimed hits go over the crowd. I know teams want to get me out immediately, so I take my time, go with the flow and then attack at the end. For that, you need to play percentage cricket and I know I can play good cricketing shots and still get runs.”
