Very rarely does one get to witness MS Dhoni missing a stumping, but it happened in the 1st T20I versus Australia at Ranchi. After humbling the visitors 4-1 in the One Day Internationals, Virat Kohli and Co. looked to do the same in the T20I’s as well. India won the toss at Ranchi and asked the visiting team to bat, keeping in mind the overcast conditions and the high possibilities of rain. Australia minus Steve Smith lost stand-in-captain David Warner in the first over and that is what set them back. None of the batsmen managed to occupy the crease and make a substantial contribution. Aaron Finch was the highest scorer, he scored 42. From the India point of view, they were disciplined with their lines and lengths. Kuldeep Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah picked up 2 wickets apiece. Australia had scored 118 for 8 when rain intervened and stopped play, 8 balls were still remaining.
But the incident that is our top focus is how MS Dhoni, a fantastic keeper and the local boy made a meal out of an easy stumping. The incident took place in the 15th over when Australia was looking down the barrel and was looking to get anything decent. Tim Paine was on strike and Yuzvendra Chahal had the ball in his hand. The leggie tossed up the leg break, which tempted Paine to get cheeky, looking for the paddle, instead, he missed the ball completely and Dhoni too missed it. Paine had lost shape while attempting that shot and was out of his crease, Dhoni had ample time but he made a hash of it. That miss may not have hurt India, but Dhoni needs to be more cautious next time around, which he is totally capable of.
— cricket (@84107010ghwj) October 7, 2017
Dhoni is usually very sharp behind the stumps and this can be passed away as a rarity. With India going 1-0 up in the series, it is all to play, for Australia if they want to push it to the decider.
