World Cup 2019: MS Dhoni leaves netizens in awe with a masterstroke before the final delivery of Indian innings against West Indies

It wasn’t exactly a ‘Mahi maar raha hai’ kind of hammer and tongs innings from MS Dhoni, but the swashbuckling batsman played a crucial knock of 56 off 61 to help India post a respectable 268/7 against West Indies in the World Cup encounter at Old Trafford, Manchester on Thursday. One of the highlights of the innings, however, was the last ball he and his side faced. The 37-year-old left netizens in awe by asking a change of bat specifically for the final delivery, before dispatching it into the stands. 

Dhoni has been at the receiving end of criticism after his laboured knock of 28 in 52 balls against Afghanistan, including from legendary Sachin Tendulkar. His innings against West Indies seemed to be following almost the same path. In fact, he would’ve been dismissed, if not for Shai Hope making a mess of an easy stumping chance. 

Nevertheless, the former captain made a superb comeback towards the end of his innings and Oshane Thomas got the Dhoni treatment as he got clobbered for 14 runs, 2 sixes and a four. 

What was interesting, however, was that Dhoni asked for a change of bat just before the final delivery. After going through a few options and picking one he was satisfied the most with, Dhoni pulled a massive 89-metre six over deep mid-wicket. 

Netizens were awe of his decision and many of them while watching the match had predicted that he’d hit a six. Some called him ‘king cool of cricket’ for his ‘wonderful six’, while others asked him to use the same bat for the rest of the tournament.