Dhoni did exactly what was right for the team: Tendulkar

PTI, Jul 3, 2019, 3:43 PM IST

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Birmingham: Batting great Sachin Tendulkar did not find anything wrong with Mahendra Singh’s approach in the World Cup clash against Bangladesh as he felt the former captain put his team first.

Tendulkar’s latest opinion was strikingly different from his criticism of the former captain a few days ago when he questioned the “lack of intent” during a similar knock against Afghanistan.

Dhoni, whose 35 off 33 balls at the death saw India score only 63 runs in the last 10 overs against Bangladesh here on Tuesday, was slammed by fans on social media for his slow knock but Tendulkar said it was an important innings for India.

“I felt it was an important innings and he (Dhoni) did exactly what was right for the team. If he stays till the 50th over, he can help other guys around him. He is expected to do that and he did that,” Tendulkar told ‘India Today’.

India posted a 28-run win over Bangladesh to book a semifinal berth in the World Cup, and Tendulkar applauded Dhoni for his commitment towards the team.

“For him, it is more about the team. Whatever is the need of the hour, one needs to do that and on Tuesday, he did that perfectly,” the legendary former cricketer added.

Last week, India had struggled en-route their 11-run win over Afghanistan and Tendulkar had expressed his disappointment with the team’s slow batting display, saying Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav lacked positive intent during their tense World Cup clash.

“I felt slightly disappointed, it could have been much better. I was also not happy with the partnership between Kedar and Dhoni, it was very slow. We batted 34 overs of spin bowling and scored 119 runs.

“This was one area where we didn’t look comfortable at all. There was no positive intent,” Tendulkar had said after the match in Southampton.