MS Dhoni shows off his flexibility going into an almost full split while batting

The 37-year-old is not just fit and strong but also flexible. MS Dhoni used his flexibility to great effect in the second and final T20I against Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The Indian team was batting first and after getting off to a good start quick wickets just seemed to be derailing the attempt, however, that’s when Dhoni and Virat Kohli got into a defining partnership.

The duo got going without consuming a lot of deliveries and that ensured the scoring rate was always healthy. Once the spinners were in the attack in the middle overs both Dhoni and Kohli enjoyed their time out there playing more freely and timing the big shots. It was in the 12th over of the innings from leg-spinner Adam Zampa that the keeper-batsman pulled off this effort.

Dhoni advanced down the wicket and Zampa sensed that. The bowler delivered it wide to make sure it was well outside his reach. It didn’t take Dhoni a lot of time to realize he had to get back behind the line or would be in a lot of trouble. His bat was too far to land in time and thus he decided to stretch his backfoot in.

He was still in motion as the ball reached keeper Peter Handscomb who dislodged the bails. Dhoni was almost in a full-fledged split by then. The umpires went upstairs for a referral and replays confirmed that the former Indian captain had once again pulled it off. He got his back foot behind the return crease before the LED lights sparked on.

Footage also confirmed that Dhoni had in fact stretched as much as 2.14m to be safe on that occasion. He also turned the heat on the Australian bowlers after that and scored 40 off 23 balls with three boundaries and as many sixes before being dismissed on the first ball of the final over. Skipper Kohli remained unbeaten on 72 as the team posted 190/4 in 20 overs.

Watch the video here:

Can you stretch as far as MSD? https://t.co/ZglC476jhV

— Akhil Gupta 🏏 (@Guptastats92) February 27, 2019