ICC World Cup 2019: Sandeep Patil feels MS Dhoni will rise at the right time

MS Dhoni hasn’t had the best of outings thus far in the World Cup 2019 in England and Wales. He notched a magnificent century against Bangladesh in the warm-up stage at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff. Thereafter, he scored 34 versus South Africa at the Rose Bowl in Southampton and a quickfire 27 against Australian at the Kennington Oval in London.

However, the last couple of matches didn’t go down well for the 37-year-old veteran. He got out for only one in the game against Pakistan. Thereafter, in the match versus Afghanistan in Southampton, he had a torrid time in the middle. Dhoni could only score 28 runs off 52 balls and never got the measure of the Afghan spinners — Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi.

He was also involved in a 50 plus stand with Kedar Jadhav in 14 overs and could never get going. He was nipped out by Rashid Khan in the 45th over, stumped by Ikram Ali Khil. With not many balls left, India needed to inject impetus into the innings and Dhoni’s dismissal pushed them back.

Subsequently, Dhoni was hurled with a lot of criticism. Sachin Tendulkar, the former Indian cricketer, reckoned that he showed no intent and could’ve been a little positive while facing the spinners. However, Sandeep Patil, another retired Indian cricketer, believes that Dhoni- the sleeping giant- will rise in the hour of need and will help the team later in the tournament.

Dhoni’s advice has worked wonders for the team

“Similarly, a player should also peak at the right time and mark my words, the sleeping giant – the team’s former ‘Captain Cool’ – is about to awaken and when he does, it will surely help the Indian team in the later stages of the tournament,” Patil was quoted as saying in his column for The Quint.

“Whenever India have found themselves under pressure, cramped and choked, the captain, vice-captain and the bowlers have all walked up to Dhoni for advice and, most of the time, it has worked wonders for the team,” Patil further wrote in his exclusive column.