Vijay Hazare 2018-19: MS Dhoni not to play for Jharkhand in the knockout stage
He is struggling with the willow and was expected to grace his presence for Jharkhand.
India’s domestic One-Day competition, Vijay Hazare Trophy, is nearing its concluding stages. The quarter-finals are set to be played on October 14 and 15. Even a few of the national team players are set to grace their presence for their respective state teams. Rohit Sharma will feature for Mumbai while MS Dhoni was expected to take the field for Jharkhand. However, the latter will not be playing in the knockout stage of the tournament.
Earlier, there were reports of Dhoni donning Jharkhand‘s jersey for their quarter-final game against Maharashtra. This was a great opportunity for him to resurrect his batting issues given the fact that the veteran has struggled a lot this year to make any contribution while playing for Team India. Even the former Indian cricketers had adviced him to play domestic cricket in order to gain some confidence with the willow.
Jharkhand coach informs
According to The Hindu, Jharkhand coach Rajiv Kumar has clarified all the air around MS Dhoni playing for the team in the knockout stages of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. “M.S. Dhoni will not play for Jharkhand in Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout rounds,” he said. While the reason of the senior player not featuring in these fixtures is not yet clear, this proves to be a big blow for Jharkhand only a couple of days ahead of the knockout game.
His presence in the change room would’ve helped the youngsters in the team a lot. He has more often than not taken up a role of mentor these days and it would’ve made a lot of difference.
As far as Jharkhand’s performance in the tournament is concerned, they topped the Elite group C after playing nine matches with seven and remained unbeaten throughout the group stage. A couple of matches were washed out and are looking a good unit under the leadership of Ishan Kishan.
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