“Where is MS Dhoni?”- Brett Lee after India’s top-order collapse against New Zealand

India’s 2019 World Cup semi-final match against New Zealand got pushed to the reserve day after persistent rain played spoilsport on Tuesday. Only 46.1 overs were possible following which the game resumed in the next day. Resuming from 211 runs, the Black Caps could only manage 239 runs in their 50 overs. The Kiwi fast bowlers came out all guns blazing at the Old Trafford in Manchester.

Matt Henry found Rohit Sharma’s outside edge, caught by Tom Latham. It was a massive blow for the Men in Blue as the 32-year-old had racked up five centuries in the main round of the mega event. Thereafter, it was the turn of Trent Boult to wreak havoc. The left-arm seamer has troubled the Indians a lot of times with the deliveries that come back into the right-handers and he got rid of the dangerous Virat Kohli for just 1.

Kohli was trapped in front and he took the DRS but to no avail. Rahul couldn’t survive the heat either and became Henry’s second victim. All of Rahul, Rohit and Virat scored one run and India was reduced to 5/3 in 3.1 overs. Dinesh Karthik played as many as 20 dot balls before the first run and then fell prey to Henry. The onus was then on Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya to steady the ship for Team India.

Brett Lee analyses the game

In the meantime, Brett Lee, the former Australian fast bowler lauded New Zealand speedsters. However, he is surprised by the fact that MS Dhoni didn’t come to bat even after the fall of the fourth wicket. The likes of Pant and Pandya walked out ahead of the veteran. Dhoni has scored one half-century in the tournament but has been a recipient of flak for his indifferent style of batting. Lee feels that India is well and truly ‘under the pump’.

Furthermore, Lee stated that a twist in the tale is on the cards with Pandya in the middle. He feels that the Baroda all-rounder can bring India back into the game, counter-attacking the Kiwis’ bowlers.

He took to Twitter and wrote, “Unbelievable bowling by the Black Caps! India under the pump at the moment but will it be the youngster @RishabPant777 to the rescue? Where is @msdhoni This is going to be an epic finish @cricketworldcup I feel a twist coming and a counter attack from @hardikpandya7,”

Here is Lee’s tweet