MS Dhoni fails to impress in domestic cricket return even as Jharkhand pull off narrow victory

MS Dhoni returned to domestic cricket after eight years

MS Dhoni made his return to domestic cricket after eight years, playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy that kicked off on Thursday. A lot was expected from the ODI cricket captain MS Dhoni, but his performance served as a major disappointment as he failed to score runs easily and then got out quite cheaply.

Representing Jharkhand against Jammu & Kashmir, Dhoni batted at his favourite No. 5 position and the situation was tailor-made for the captain cool to play a big innings and rescue his side from a difficult situation.

Batting at his favoured position of No. 5, the situation was perfect for him to play a big innings and rescue points for Jharkhand.

Opener Ishank Jaggi scored a half century but despite his efforts the Jammu and Kashmir bowlers reduced Jharkhand to 81 for 4 wickets. Much hope was placed on Dhoni who is a tried and tested batsman in rescuing from tough situations such as these. Jharkhand had thought that with Dhoni performing well they will eventually be boasting a big total.

Dhoni, however was nowhere near his best form as he returned after almost a month and a half and was visibly out of touch. J&K bowling attack was led by their captain Parvez Rasool, known to be an honest and inspirational leader. Dhoni struggled to rotate strike under such a strong bowling attack.

Disappointment loomed large as Dhoni faced 24 balls and scored only 9 runs.

J&K capitulate after Rasool’s 63

Jharkhand’s grand total summed up to a pretty presentable 210 in 50 overs. Jharkhand's lower order batsman Kaushal Singh, who alone scored 53 runs was instrumental in taking the total to 210.

In the second innings, Jammu and Kashmir were looking well set to overhaul Jharkhand’s score at one stage, but with the departure of highest scorer Parvez Rasool, fell into despair. They eventually lost the match by 9 runs.

Dhoni, despite not being the captain, surely had his inputs to give in this victory of narrow margins.

Dhoni has enough time to appear for his state Jharkhand, especially since he has retired from Test cricket. Keeping himself busy with domestic cricket will also provide Dhoni with the practice that he needs to keep in touch with competitive cricket.

Dhoni’s last stint as a cricketer was when he led India against South Africa in the Twenty20 and ODI series in September. So the Vijay Hazare trophy was in fact practice for Dhoni before he leaves for Australia for a limited-overs series.

Jharkhand is not known to be a strong team in the domestic circles and that was all the more reason why Dhoni’s presence garnered a lot of hopes for Jharkhand to become the contenders for the knock-out round.