Twitter Reactions: MS Dhoni belts a magnificent century against Bangladesh in World Cup warm-up game
Dhoni scored 113 at a strike rate above 140 and was a treat to watch.
For MS Dhoni, the 2019 World Cup is perhaps even bigger than 2011. That year, he had made history with one last six while this year, he is under pressure to create history even before the first ball of the tournament has been bowled. The 37-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman knows that it will not take too long for the critics to take their daggers out if he fails to deliver in the next month and a half. And the man showed that he is in no mood to give up in the warm-up game against Bangladesh in Cardiff on Tuesday.
Bangladesh won the toss and asked India to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan went early and even though Virat Kohli scored 47 and KL Rahul held the other end together, India slumped to 102 for 4 in the 22nd over. The top order was done with and the scoring rate was not too great either. In came Dhoni and turned the table around with Rahul.
The duo added 164 runs in just over 21 overs before Rahul fell for a magnificent 108. Dhoni, who fell for a poor 42-ball 17 in the last match, completely overhauled his approach this time and belted a hundred himself. While his strike rate against New Zealand was 40.47, against Bangladesh, it was over 140. The ace batsman reached his 100 in just 73 balls and as usual, with a six.
Although Dhoni is still electric with his glovework, he had to regain the fans’ trust over his batting after a dry 2018. The Ranchi cricketer stormed back into form with the bat in the three-match ODI series in Australia earlier this year, hitting three consecutive half-centuries. He also had a productive Indian Premier League (IPL) this year like the last and although former cricketer like Sanjay Manjrekar advised not to expect the man batting in the World Cup like he does in the IPL, Dhoni is someone who loves to prove everybody wrong.
Dhoni continued with his hitting after Rahul departed
Dhoni accelerated the scoring rate once Rahul departed in the 44th over and added over 50 runs with Hardik Pandya for the fifth wicket in less than four overs. Indian fans will be earnestly hoping that the Men in Blue deliver at this rate in the actual tournament starting day after tomorrow.
Twitter was happy to see vintage Dhoni and came up with the following reactions:
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