Bhuvneshwar Kumar : MS Dhoni told me to bat like I do in Test cricket

India snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against Sri Lanka yesterday as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and MS Dhoni stitched together a hundred run partnership which helped India take a 2-0 lead in the 5-match ODI series. The duo’s efforts saved India after an uncharacteristic batting collapse which saw the Men in Blue lose 6 wickets for 11 runs as Akila Dhanajaya picked up four of those wickets in the space of 9 balls. However, it was then that Dhoni and Kumar came to the fore and Kumar revealed what the Indian stumper said to him at the beginning of their partnership. 

Chasing what should have been as easily gettable target of 237, India got off to a dream start as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan managed a 109-run opening partnership. However, it was Lankan off-spinner Akila Dananjaya who turned the game on its head for the home side as he picked 4 wickets in the space of nine balls which saw India collapse to 121 for 6 and Kumar too was taken aback by India’s collapse as he said. "It was a little surprising because we had a very good opening partnership. Then 3-4 wickets fell quickly so it was a bit of a panic situation for us. There was no message as such from the dressing room or MS Dhoni. 

But Kumar was untroubled by the off-spinner and he spoke of what helped him to weather the storm, saying, "I had a plan against him. He is an off-spinner but he was also bowling leg spinners and googlies so it was a surprise for us. I just wanted to play him for the wrong one or the googlies, which he was bringing in to me. And whatever was going away from me I wasn't really worried about that.

"Whatever wickets he took that was on the googly, the incoming delivery, so my plan was to counter his incoming deliveries. Initially, it was a bit difficult to read him from the hand but later on when I played him for 10-15 balls I could read his variations," he explained.

A major aspect that worked in India’s favour last night was the fact that they weren’t chasing too big a target which meant that both Dhoni and Kumar didn’t have to play extravagant shots in order to see India over the line and Kumar acknowledged the same saying, "It was a normal plan because we knew that we didn't need to do anything different. We tried that whatever opportunity we get for singles or doubles we will not leave that because by adding singles we wouldn't reach a stage of needing 6-7 runs per over as we didn't have many batsmen left. We weren't running extra hard or trying to do anything special. We just played normally.

"MS said play as you want to play. So at one particular stage, I felt that I could play some attacking but risk-free shots on which I had full confidence. So it's not like that he gave me any responsibility or asked me to play any big shots. It's just that the stage was such that I had confidence on myself that if I get such a ball I can hit it," he added.

"But that kind of situation was perfect for me because it was totally a Test match situation. Thanks to Sanjay Bangar, he was working really hard on me during the Test series. Whenever I go into the nets Bangar helps me to counter those things, like I have to go through the last session of a Test. So it was same kind of situation and that was a bit familiar for me," he concluded.

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