Michael Holding backs Dhoni on Stokes' 'lack of intent' comment during Ind-Eng WC match

Michael Holding has come forward and backed Mahendra Singh Dhoni after star English all-rounder Ben Stokes claimed that MS Dhoni had shown a lack of intent during India's run chase of 337 against England in World Cup 2019 group match.

'He desperately wanted to win': Michael Holding

“It wasn’t the game that India had to win, but I don’t think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren’t putting up their 100%, but I realized it wasn’t the case when the expression on MS Dhoni’s face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I don’t think it was a team decision to not try to win, said Michael Holding on his official Youtube channel ‘Mikey – holding nothing back’.

 

READ: Ben Stokes Questions MS Dhoni's Intent, Virat Kohli's Comments Post 2019 World Cup Match

Ben Stokes recalls 2019 World Cup clash against India, questions MS Dhoni

England lifted the 2019 World Cup at home on the back of some stellar performances from their star all-rounder Ben Stokes. Stokes, who recently came up with a book titled 'On Fire', questioned the run-chasing tactics applied by the Indian batsmen when the two nations clashed in the 38th match of the same tournament. The all-rounder said that he saw “no intent” from MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav when the two batsmen were at the crease. In his book, Ben Stokes wrote that he was mystified by the batting approach of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during their partnership. The two batsmen took up 25.5 overs to form a 138-run second-wicket stand when India were in pursuit of a 338-run target. He also questioned MS Dhoni’s batting technique as the veteran wicketkeeper scored only 42 runs from 31 balls, even though the batsman arrived at the crease when India required another 112 runs from their remaining 11 overs.

Ben Stokes believes that India were in with a chance of winning the contest when MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav were batting together. He wrote that the England camp were always aware of Dhoni’s approach of sticking around and taking the game as close as possible. However, the two batsmen were committed to taking singles until the penultimate over. While the final over of the Indian innings yielded 12 runs, the contest was already out of the ‘Men in Blue’s’ reach by then. Ben Stokes said that India’s batting seemed bizarre to the England team management, but admitted that their tactic played into England’s hands.

READ: Monty Panesar Compares MS Dhoni With Cristiano Ronaldo, Justifies His Reason