You haven't won the game till you've got Dhoni out: Jimmy Neesham

The fifth and final One-Day International between India and New Zealand will take place at Wellington tomorrow. After gaining an unassailable lead of 3 nil, the Indian batting line-up was blown away by the Kiwi pacers in the fourth ODI. The Black Caps will now be looking forward to ending the ODI series on a good note ahead of the three-match T20I series.

The absence of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni the two most experienced batsmen was felt by the Indian team. While the skipper has been rested for the remainder of the series, Dhoni has regained fitness and will in all likelihood play tomorrow. New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham who recently made a comeback to the side was all praise for the former Indian captain. He further hoped that the Kiwis replicate their recent performance in the next game as well.

You haven’t won the game till you’ve got Dhoni out

A lot of questions were raised over MS Dhoni‘s spot in the World Cup squad. The wicketkeeper-batsman had been going through a rough patch. However, his recent performances speak volume about his importance in the middle order. Neesham is fascinated by his calmness in the middle. He asserted that the game is never over until Dhoni has been dismissed.

“Dhoni’s records speak for itself. I mean, he is a fantastic player. Some noise was made especially from Indian media about whether he should be there in their World Cup squad or not. He’s got that calm demeanour in the middle order. And when you’re bowling to him, you know you haven’t won the game till you’ve got him out. Hopefully, we can do that tomorrow and run through them,” he said while talking to the reporters on the eve of the final ODI.

India got quality batsmen

The Indian trio Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli at the top order has been absolutely magnificent and maintained sensational form. Neesham is well aware that even in Kohli’s absence, getting over this batting lineup isn’t an easy challenge.

“Stats speak for themselves. In the last two years, their top three averages 20 odd more than any other country in the world. They have obviously got a whole lot of quality at the top there even with Virat resting. So there is certainly not a case of getting complacent. We just have to put the ball in the right areas again as Boult did in Hamilton and hopefully run through them again,” he stated.

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