“There will always be only one MS Dhoni.” Tweets such as these and several video montages of former Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni flooded the microblogging site Twitter after Rishabh Pant, India’s current wicketkeeper, had a shy at the stumps and missed one on Tuesday night. Sri Lanka needed 2 off 2 in what turned out to be an Asia Cup thriller.
Arshdeep Singh showed a lot of character and promise in the extremely tense last over of the match as the youngster was once again handed a task to defend 7 runs. Not giving anything away to the set Sri Lankan batters, Singh brought down the equation achingly close.
The fifth ball was faced by Dasun Shanaka who looked to play at it but missed and called for one. Pant aimed at the stumps but missed as the ball went toward Singh. The bowler looked to hit it direct at the non-striker’s end but missed as well and the overthrow allowed the batters to steal another run.
Sri Lanka won the match and showed the (virtual) exit doors of Asia Cup 2022 to India. While Singh was given the pass by fans for missing the stumps thanks to his death over bowling, Pant’s miss reminded the fans why Dhoni was the best in the business when it came to tight situations.
If you have made it this far and are confused, here’s a quick refresher as to why Dhoni fans went into nostalgia mode:
Defending a modest 146, India looked down and out for the better part of the match before pulling their acts together in the final two overs to restrict Bangladesh to 145 for 9 in ICC World T20 back in 2016.
Dhoni took his right gloves off when Hardik Pandya came in to bowl the last delivery with two runs required. Pandya bowled a fuller delivery wide off Shuvagato Hom who missed it and Dhoni caught it with only his inners on.
As Mustafizur started sprinting from the other end, the then 34-plus Indian skipper beat his younger opponent in a short sprint to whip off the bails to lead to an unbelievable finish.
That specific frame of bails lighting up as Dhoni disturbed the woodwork resurfaces every so often and Pant’s miss brought it back to life once again.
Why Dhoni is Invaluable . #INDvSL#RishabhPant pic.twitter.com/c949JACXDf
— Autumn (@Autumn_streek) September 6, 2022
#INDvSL There will always be only one MS Dhoni. #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/Bzam99GgKH
— Shivang Trivedi (@Shivang54296409) September 6, 2022
WE MISS DHONI EVERYWHERE pic.twitter.com/jucVromzsP
— ‘ (@Ashwin_tweetz) September 6, 2022
Not All wicket keepers are MS Dhoni. pic.twitter.com/KDWqXQNWmi
— MAHIYANK™ (@Mahiyank_78) September 6, 2022
This is why Dhoni was the biggest X factor. If you miss 3 stumps and give away an extra run when you ought to have taken the wicket by run out you know what Dhoni was made of. Miss you always MSD
— Safir (@safiranand) September 6, 2022
No One Can Match Dhoni #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/4Yz6FCMBJi
— Yogi Devnath ?? (@YogiDevnath2) September 6, 2022
Not everyone’s Cup of Tea@msdhoni ? pic.twitter.com/ckmR0rSltg
— Naveen Saahu (@KalyanDhoni07) September 6, 2022
I miss Dhoni behind the stumps pic.twitter.com/wVU2PiIAPU
— Aumbeti Roydo (@roydoaumbeti) September 6, 2022
Here’s a video of the very moment from the India Vs Sri Lanka match:
Missed #Dhoni here so badly…
Marvelous job under pressure by Arshdeep but Rohit’s clueless captaincy and lack of zeal to win nail biting games caused us dearly…#INDvsSL #AsiaCupT20 pic.twitter.com/z3zW8VdNXJ— Zahid Hussain زاہد حسین (@zahid_yani_mai) September 6, 2022
Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis hit half-centuries as Sri Lanka defeated India in a last-over thriller for their second win of the Super Four stage. The opening pair had added 97 runs before Dasun Shanaka struck an unbeaten 33 while Bhanuka Rajapaksa made 25 not out to take SL over the line.
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