It was a forgettable Sunday (December 10) for India and their new captain Rohit Sharma. The hosts lost the opening ODI to Sri Lanka after a dismal batting performance. However, one man stood out and saved India further humiliation. It was MS Dhoni.
In the recent past, Dhoni has been heavily criticised. But once again he showed how valuable he is for the team. Thanks to his half century, India managed to cross the 100-run mark in Dharamsala. If not for his knock (65 off 87 balls, 10x4, 2x6), the hosts would have been bowled out for less than 40, according to Sri Lanka's star bowler Suranga Lakmal.
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"I think they were 29 for 7 at one stage. We thought we could bowl them out for 40 runs or so. But MS Dhoni batted beautifully. Had we dismissed him early, we could have dismissed them cheaply. You've got to realise that he is a world class player. He has been in these situations before, having played over 300 ODIs. Our focus was on winning the game. So we didn't worry about it too much after we had made a good start," Lakmal, who took four wickets, told "Cricbuzz".
Right-arm paceman Lakmal was outstanding at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium as he took career-best 4/13 in his 10-over spell. He bowled four maidens. Sri Lanks won by seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead.
Rohit, who is the stand-in skipper for the series in place for Virat Kohli, too supported Dhoni and slammed his critics. The Mumbai batsman called Dhoni as "pillar" of the team.
The teams now travel to Mohali to play the second game on December 13 (Wednesday). The ODI series ends with the third and final contest in Visakhapatnam on Sunday (December 17). This will be followed by three Twenty20 Internationals from December 20.
