Agarkar feels Dhoni batted too slow at Sydney, didn’t help Rohit

Tags: India tour of Australia 2018-19, India, Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ajit Bhalchandra Agarkar

Published on: Jan 14, 2019

Former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar feels that MS Dhoni’s slow innings of 51 from 96 balls was not of much use for Rohit Sharma, who slammed a century at Sydney

Former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar feels that MS Dhoni’s slow innings of 51 from 96 balls was not of much use for Rohit Sharma, who slammed a century at Sydney.

Australia stunned India in the opening ODI as Jason Behrendorff and Jhye Richardson ran through the Indian line-up as India crumbed to 4 for 3. Rohit and Dhoni then featured in a 137-run stand.

Dhoni scored 51 off 96 with 3 fours and a six at a strike rate of just over 50. While Rohit was fluent, Dhoni struggled to rotate the strike.

"Yes, tough situation to come in when you are three down with four runs on the board. And you could argue that the first 25-30 balls, you've not been here. But once you are set. I mean Rohit can get 288 all by himself. There has to be a support from the other end. And not from someone who is striking at 50 when he finishes after 100 balls. And, 100 balls are a lot of deliveries in one-day cricket,” Ajit Agarkar was quoted as saying in a ESPNCricinfo report.

“You can argue for the first few deliveries because the pressure is on and you don't want to throw your wicket. But eventually, you need to do what the team requires you to do. And if you are not doing it then you got to worry about whether the person is good enough to do it or not. Yes, he got a fifty but even then it was fifty off like 100 balls. That wasn't helping Rohit at the other end,” Agarkar further added in the report.

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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