MS Dhoni’s slow batting against England in 2018 had left the then India Head Coach Ravi Shastri fuming so much so that he looked into India legend’s eyes at the team meeting and told him to mend his ways as he would not allow a defensive approach under his watch. All the explosive details of this indirect flare-up emerged on Monday in then-India fielding coach R Sridhar’s new book ‘Coaching Beyond: My Days with the Indian Cricket Team.’
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The incident dates back to 2018 when Virat Kohli led India toured England for three-match T20I as well as ODIs which was followed by a five-match Test series. India had won the T20 Series 2-1 and went onto win the first ODI match as well which was followed by a humiliating defeat in the second match after Joe Root’s scintillating ton. Although, India lost that match by 86 runs, the Men in Blue had pushed England in the chase with skipper Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina in the middle. However, both departed in space of few balls which was followed by the departure of Hardik Pandya for 21 which meant Dhoni would be left with bulk of scoring.
With just tail-enders for company, Mahi shut shop and India went onto lose the match without a fight. This infuriated a flamboyant Shastri who wasn’t happy with the manner of defeat. In this case, Dhoni’s colorless batting was exactly opposite to Shastri’s core philosophy.
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“We were in the hunt when Virat and Suresh Raina were batting, but as we lost wickets, MS was left with only the bowlers for company going into the last 10 overs. Uncharacteristically, he shut shop, and even though our required rate in the last 10 was nearly 13 an over, we only managed some 20 runs in the next six overs. That was the innings when MS got to 10,000 ODI runs a very significant milestone. We were all thrilled for him, but we also wanted to know why he hadn’t made even a token attempt at the target,” Sridhar wrote.
Dhoni scored 37 runs off 59 balls with just two boundaries before being dismissed in the 47th over. India were eventually folded for 236 runs. Shastri didn’t spare Dhoni in the team meeting ahead of the series decider in Headingly, Leeds.
“Ravi, meanwhile, was seething. He was furious not because we lost by 86 runs, but how we lost the game, how we went down without putting up a fight. We didn’t go for the target, we didn’t go down throwing a punch, we just went down tamely The head coach wasn’t going to let that one sail harmlessly by,” he added.
“The decider was in Headingley, and we had a team meeting the previous day. The entire squad was in attendance, including all members of the support staff, and I knew Ravi was going to make a strong point. He was at his loudest and fiercest as he said, ‘No matter who you may be, there should not be another occasion when we lose a match not trying to win it. It will not happen under my watch. And if anyone does it, that will be the last bloody game of cricket they will play under my watch. You can lose a cricket game, no shame in that, but you will not lose like this.
Sridhar, however, mentioned that Dhoni was not directly spoken to as Shastri maintained just an eye contact. Meanwhile, Dhoni too never broke eye contact. Sridhar added the India legend never looked rattled and stayed calm and composed.
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“MS was sitting right there in the front, and while Ravi’s words were meant for the team, his eyes were trained on MS To the former skipper’s great credit, he didn’t flinch, he never broke eye contact with Ravi. He didn’t look here and there or fidget because one of his many admirable qualities is his ability to take the knocks, especially when he knows in his heart of hearts that he deserves them,” the former India fielding coach added.
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