Dhoni calls for patience with India’s inexperienced middle order

MS Dhoni has asked for more patience to be shown with India’s inexperienced middle order after they couldn’t complete a chase of 261 on a sluggish Ranchi pitch. Dhoni backed the young players to find their own method of finishing games, even if it meant going for big shots, referring to the dismissals of Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya at a critical juncture. While Pandey lofted a slower ball from Tim Southee to mid-on, Pandya’s inside-out strike off Mitchell Santner was pouched by Mitchell Santner at long-off, and with this wicket India had slipped from 128 for 2 to 167 for 7.

“Cricket has changed, people like to play big shots. It is important to not tell them to stop playing the shots; you don’t want them to go into their shells,” Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony. “They played their shots when the ball was in their area. The Nos. 5 and 6 are quite new, they will learn their own way. Some will play big shots, some will take it deep. Once they have played 15-20 games, they will figure out what works for them.”

Dhoni’s post-match press conference was along the same lines; he reiterated the difficulty of batting down the order on such a sluggish pitch. “It’s important they get games like these and finally they’ll figure out a way what suits them best to chase down a total like this,” he said. “Unless they …

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