Former Indian captain MS Dhoni has put an end to speculations about his retirement from One Day International (ODI) cricket, saying he is not going anywhere till the 2019 World Cup in England.
There were rumours about his retirement when TV cameras spotted India’s World Cup winning captain asking for the match ball after final ODI that India lost to England on July 17 but today Dhoni revealed that he was merely doing his homework for next year’s mega event.
“(I took the ball) to see why we are not able to get enough reverse swing. Because we will be playing the World Cup in England, we have to (ensure) that we get reverse swing going. Because it is something that is very important. If the opposition is getting it, we should also get it, at some point or the other,” Dhoni told PTI.
“After 50 overs, the ball is useless to the ICC (International Cricket Council), so I requested the umpire ‘Can I get the ball and gave it to the bowling coach?'”
“We need to work on it as to how we can get it more scuffed up so that we can get a bit of reverse swing going, that will in-turn help the fast bowlers get those yorkers or wickets in and around the 40th over mark. That would really help us restrict the opposition by not getting too many runs in the last 10 overs.”
Further on being asked about how India can win the Test series, having lost the opener in Birmingham by 31 runs, Dhoni’s take was simple.
“I will just tell you one thing — to win a Test match, you need 20 wickets and we (India) did that. So that’s the only answer I would give because it doesn’t matter how well you bat, how well you are there for five days but (by) taking 20 wickets, you can win a Test match,” he said.
Virat Kohli & Co will take on England in the second Test starting August 9 at Lord’s. They lost the first Test by 31 runs.
Besides Kohli, no other batsman was able to make an impact on England pitches.
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