Ben Stokes, the current World No. 2 all-rounder in ODIs, in his new book ‘On Fire’ mentioned that former India captain MS Dhoni showed ‘no intent’ during the 2019 World cup clash against England last summer.
Stokes, in his book, stated that he was perplexed by India’s run-chasing strategy in which he found Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s approach “mystifying” and saw “no intent” from Dhoni during it.
“Arguably, the way MS Dhoni played when he came in with 112 runs needed from 11 overs was even stranger. He appeared more intent on singles than sixes. Even with a dozen balls remaining, India could still have won. There was little or no intent from him (Dhoni) or his partner Kedar Jadhav. To me, while victory is still possible you always go for broke,” Stokes has written in his book.
While the English all-rounder’s comments tempted the former Pakistan cricketers to blame the Men in Blue for deliberately losing to the home side, to eliminate the Men in Green, tainted pacer S Sreesanth has come out all the guns blazing to slam Stokes.
During a recent Instagram live session, Sreesanth challenged Stokes for a face-off in order to settle scores with him, only for his remarks against Dhoni.
Sreesanth during the live session said: “Main toh thoda yehi bolunga Ben Stokes ko ki dua karo ki Dhoni bhai aapke khilaaf dobara na khele. Dhoni bhai ke memory se kuch bhi jaata nahi…” (I just wish and pray Stokes doesn’t face MS Dhoni in any match in the future. Because, Dhoni isn’t one to forget such things in a jiffy).
Sreesanth added that Stokes may be any all-rounder in the world but he can’t be successful in dismissing Dhoni. The two-times World Cup winner also said that he is really looking forward to bowl against Stokes to give him a befitting reply for his comments about Dhoni.
“Usse all the best karta hun ki agar IPL ya England-India kahi bhi mila na bete, abhi tak toh 2 ya 3 million mil raha hai na, Dhoni bhai career hi khatam kar denge. Ben Stokes ko main open challenge deta hun ki Dhoni bhai ko out toh kar nahi sakta woh chahe world ka kitna bhi all-rounder ho two.
“I just want to say that Ben Stokes you have been playing for the last 4-5 years since I was not playing, I am really looking forward to bowl to you brother. Just to give an answer to what you told about Dhoni.” (I wish Stokes all the best that he never comes across Dhoni in any IPL or England-India game in future. He maybe getting a big amount now, but Dhoni will punish him to all corners with his bowling. He maybe the best all-rounder in the world but definitely can’t get Dhoni out).
