Surprised that there are questions on Dhoni’s batting everyday: Bangar

BIRMINGHAM: India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar Monday joined the players in backing Mahendra Singh Dhoni and expressed surprise that the veteran is frequently criticised for his strike rate.

Dhoni scored 42 off 31 balls against England in the World Cup on Sunday, but many questioned his lack of intent during the death overs of a game that India lost by 31 runs.

“I’m surprised that this question continues to come up every now and then. He’s doing the job for the team and overall we’re very happy with the intent he’s batting with,” Bangar said on the eve of the match against Bangladesh.

“Except for one odd innings (28 off 52 balls against Afghanistan), he has always performed his role. Five out of seven games he has done the job for the team,” he said.

To support his argument, Bangar cited a couple of Dhoni knocks that bailed the team out of difficult situations.

“If you see the earlier games, against South Africa he stitched together a partnership of 70 with Rohit. After that what was required of him against Australia he did that.

“In Manchester on a difficult track (against West Indies), he got a vital 58 for us. Here also he was striking the ball really well,” Bangar said, defending doggedly, a quality he possessed during his playing days as a batsman.

He also didn’t feel that there was lack of intent from Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav during the last few overs.

“I don’t think so, because if you look at the way they bowled towards the end, they used the dimensions really well and created difficult angles for our batters to hit. (AGENCIES)

 

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