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'Dhoni had a point to prove'

Twitter image: MS Dhoni drives his Hummer past New Zealand team bus in Ranchi

Daljit Singh, the former skipper of the Bihar Ranji Trophy team and now one of the foremost curators in the country provided the perfect one-day wicket at Mohali. It was a pitch where the ball came on to the bat nicely and batsmen could play through the line without worrying too much about any delivery keeping low or bouncing awkwardly. There was just enough grass cover that would interest the seamers and for the wrist spinner there was turn as the wily Amit Mishra showed with two classic leg-spinners that bamboozled a well set Ross Taylor and then a bit later the dangerous Luke Ronchi.

At Dharamsala and the Ferozeshah Kotla in Delhi, the batsmen had got themselves out in various ways and at Mohali too after a good partnership between the consistent Tom Latham and Ross Taylor the Kiwi batsmen contrived to get themselves out till Jimmy Neesham along with Matt Henry showed that there was nothing much in the pitch. It was their defiant partnership that took New Zealand to the final total that they ended up with. It gave their bowlers a fighting chance. They had restricted the Indians to 236 at Delhi so if the fielders supported them then they could do that again. Cricket being the funny game that it is Ross Taylor the best Kiwi slip catcher dropped a straightforward chance of Virat Kohli of all the people. That was all that the Indian Vice Captain needed as he went along with his skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to take India within an eyeball of a win. Kohli's hundred was simply magnificent for the range of shots and the certainty of it. One could only sympathise with Ross Taylor as he would have contemplated throughout Kohli's innings what he had done in dropping India's premier batsman.

Dhoni had a point to prove to all those asking questions about his place in the team. If only those asking the questions set the same standard of examination for themselves, most, if not all of them would be out of their jobs. 'Captain Cool' however is the last to get affected and as always the team came first as he realised that chasing such a big score meant that a bit of experience was needed up front and that is what he provided.

India have the worry of their openers not clicking. Their new ball on a good pitch at Mohali was exposed as Hardik Pandya's pace was just right for the New Zealander's to get after. Umesh Yadav has bowled well and Kedar Jadhav getting wickets is nothing short of genius on skipper Dhoni's part. Yet there are those who take orders from others and know nothing about leadership who want him removed as captain. That's why mera Bharat mahan.

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