Mahendra Singh Dhoni was severely criticised and even booed by Indian cricket fans for his slow scoring rate during the second One Day International at Lord's against England which the visitors lost by 86 runs. Now, legendary opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar has written that Dhoni's 37 runs off 58 balls reminded him of his infamous innings during the first match of the Prudential World Cup at Lord's on June 7, 1975.
"Dhoni's struggle was understandable because when confronted with an impossible situation, the options get limited and the mind becomes negative. Then all the good shots go straight to the fielder to add to the dot balls and the pressure becomes too much. Dhoni's struggle reminded me of my most infamous innings at the same venue," Gavaskar wrote in The Times of India.
England scored 322/7 in 50 overs but India failed to put up a spirited show. Chasing the target, the Indian batting collapsed after a decent start with no player managing to score even a fifty. The visitors ended with just 236 in 50 overs as Dhoni and the lower order failed to fire.
But Dhoni also entered the record books during his innings at Lord's when he reached 33 to cross the 10,000 run mark in ODIs. He is the only cricketer to have entered the 10,000-club with an average of over 50. He became only the 12th player ever and the fourth Indian to hit the milestone.
Gavaskar was also roasted for his slow batting in the first match of the Prudential World Cup on June 7, 1975. England had scored 334/4 and India failed to put up a fight with Gavaskar remaining not out on 36 runs off 174 balls as the team scored just 132/3 in 60 over to lose the match by 202 runs.
