How MS Dhoni’s brain works like magic on a cricket field
MS Dhoni left the Twitterati in awe after he aced the DRS call once again when Jasprit Bumrah was given out during India’s first ODi match against Sri Lanka in Dharamsala on Sunday.
Former Indian cricket team skipper MS Dhoni’s articulate calls with the Decision Review System (DRS) are quite well known and the swashbuckling batsman maintained his record on Sunday when he helped extend Jasprit Bumrah’s stay at the crease towards the fag end of the Indian innings at Dharamsala during the first ODI encounter against Sri Lanka.
India were reeling under pressure at 87 for the loss of eight wickets when Bumrah was hit on the back pad off Sachith Pathirana’s bowling and umpire Anil Chaudhary adjudged the latter to be dismissed. However, MS Dhoni, who was at the non-striker’s end signaled for the DRS immediately, even before Chaudhary could complete raising his finger to reveal his decision.
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The decision went upstairs with television replays suggesting that the impact was outside the off-stump, thus saving Bumrah the blushes. Although he didn’t last long and was dismissed by Pathirana in his next over, MS Dhoni’s accurate call sent Twitterati in a frenzy given there was hardly much to cheer for a side that crumbled to their third lowest total at home.
This is not the first time that MS Dhoni has pulled off brilliant calls though. Such has been his success rate while dealing with the technology, skipper Virat Kohli has often been seen to refer to Dhoni before signaling to the on-field umpire for a referral.
India were on course to get bundled out for their lowest ever ODI total after Sri Lankan pacer Suranga Lakmal ran through the Indian top-order before finishing with figures of 10-4-13-4, bowling all of his allotted overs on the trot. But a timely half-century by Dhoni, including a 41-run partnership with Kuldeep Yadav for the eighth wicket helped the hosts go past the 100-run mark. Sri Lanka chased down the 113-run target at ease, losing just three wickets in the process.
