Dhoni throws weight behind struggling Ishant

With the selectors set to name the team for the rest of the series on Sunday, India skipper MS Dhoni backed the struggling Ishant Sharma. HT reports.

With the selectors set to name the team for the rest of the series on Sunday, India skipper MS Dhoni backed the struggling Ishant Sharma.

“You have to see your options. Vinay (Kumar) had gone for some runs before that so I wanted to try Ishant. I thought I’d bowl Ishant and then see who could bowl the last two. Always easy to say things after seeing the result. Who would have known that 30 runs would come? These things happen. You try to take the right decisions, sometimes they happen, sometimes they don’t,” said Dhoni.

The turnaround
Before Ishant’s fateful 48th over, Australia were staring down the barrel, needing 44 runs of 18 balls. But that over in which James Faulkner took 30 runs changed the complexion of the game.

It has been a poor series for Ishant, taking just two wickets from the three matches so far.

“We keep talking. You need to talk a lot to this generation of bowlers. They are experienced, but if you look at the rule changes, no one is experienced; they are all new,” said Dhoni.