ICC World Cup 2019: MS Dhoni stops bowler, sets field for Bangladesh while batting, twitter erupts - Watch
Call it MS Dhoni’s audacity, his charisma or just unmatchable confidence but he somehow manages to pull off things in the cricket field which can be hard to even imagine, let alone perform for any other cricketer. Tuesday was one such day. There was no stopping Dhoni during the India vs Bangladesh World Cup 2019 warm-up match at Cardiff. Dhoni was simply bossing around, with the bat, with the gloves, in the field and as captain of the opposition side. Nope, the last one was not a printing mistake. Dhoni indeed set the field for Bangladesh, that too when he was batting
In the 40th over of Indian innings, Dhoni stopped Sabbir Rahman on his tracks and asked him to move the square-leg fielder towards his left. Like an obedient ward, Sabbir did not even think twice, nor did he ask his captain Masrafe Mortaza before promptly moving the fielder as advised by Dhoni.
That was rare and unthinkable even by Dhoni standards. While it was unclear whether the fielder was moving sideways and thereby distracting Dhoni or he actually wanted to advise Bangladesh a field change is unclear but the fact that the bowler Sabbir obliged, gave an account of the respect Dhoni demands.
That Dhoni sets the field for India during pressure situations and even orders the spinners to bowl a particular ball from behind the stumps despite not being the captain is understandable, taking into account his wealth of experience. But for him to advise a field-change for the opposition is just at another level altogether. Yes, it was a warm-up match and very little mattered in terms of result but it spoke volumes about Dhoni’s character, his mindset, about how he sees the game.