Tale of two innings: Dhoni’s 59-ball 37 at Lord’s reminds Gavaskar of his 174-ball 36

Perhaps for the first time in his international career, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was booed at a cricket ground. Reason: coming out at No 6 at the end of the 27th over with India 140/4 in pursuit of England’s 323, he made 37 in 59 balls, with only two fours. With the run-rate soaring out of reach, Dhoni’s knock didn’t help India’s cause and the visitors went down in the second ODI by 86 runs.

This strangely subdued knock of Dhoni has reminded Sunil Gavaskar of his infamous 174-ball 36 (not out) against the same opposition at the same venue during the 1975 World Cup.

In his column for The Times of India, he wrote: “Dhoni’s struggle was understandable because when confronted with an impossible situation, the options get limited and the mind becomes negative. Then all the good shots go straight to the fielder to add to the dot balls and the pressure becomes too much.”

“Dhoni’s struggle reminded me of my most infamous innings at the same venue,” he added.

Gavaskar’s ultra-defensive knock, too, came during a chase. In pursuit of England’s 334/6 in 60 overs, India had finished with 132/3, succumbing to a 202-run defeat. The former Indian opener continues to draw flak for his strike-rate of 20.68 in that game.

Dhoni’s strike-rate in the second ODI was better at 62.71 but not enough when the asking rate soared to 10-plus runs per over when he was on the crease. In his five ODI innings this year, he has managed 103 runs at a strike-rate of 73.61.

Reacting the criticism against Dhoni, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said it was wrong for pundits to “pounce” on him.

“When he does well, people call him the best finisher ever and when things don’t go well, they all pounce on him. We all have bad days in cricket and today was a bad one for everyone, not just him,” the Indian skipper said in defence of his predecessor.

“Also, you want to take the innings deep; you don’t want to just lose by 160-170 runs, and he has the experience, but some days it just doesn’t come off. Other people jump to conclusions, but we don’t – we totally believe in him,” he added.