[caption id="attachment_686092" align="aligncenter" width="628"]<a href="http://www.cricketcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/dhoni.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-686092" alt="MS Dhoni has failed to step up the scoring rate in the end overs (Image courtesy: AFP)" src="http://www.cricketcountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/dhoni.jpg" width="628" height="354" /></a> MS Dhoni has failed to step up the scoring rate in the end overs (Image courtesy: AFP)[/caption] <p></p> <p></p><a href="http://www.cricketcountry.com/players//ms-dhoni" target="_blank">MS Dhoni</a>, as critics have pointed out, has not been able to dictate terms in death overs in recent times. Dhoni s 43-ball 42 not out in the Johannesburg ODI cost India a few runs in towards the end as India succumbed to a defeat. As quoted by <em>The Times of India</em>, <a href="http://www.cricketcountry.com/players/krishnamachari-srikkanth" target="_blank">Krishnamachari Srikkanth</a> cited Dhoni s dipping strike rate as a cause of worry: The form of Rohit Sharma is a big concern and so is the strike rate and consistency of Dhoni and Pandya. Rohit is too good a player in this format to be missing out, especially in proper batting conditions. <p></p> <p></p>Rohit made amends to his miserable form by slamming his 17th ODI hundred in the fifth ODI against South Africa at Port Elizabeth. He fell in the 43rd over to Lungi Ngidi and Hardik Pandya departed next ball. Dhoni walked in to bat in the 43rd over in the fifth ODI and only managed a 17-ball 13. Dhoni failed to accelerate as he has in the recent past (in the fourth ODI). The former captain and Hardik Pandya could not have hoped for a more solid platform to launch an attack and get India to a massive score, Srikkanth added. <p></p> <p></p>[link-to-post url="http://www.cricketcountry.com/news/india-win-maiden-bilateral-odi-series-in-south-africa-686008"][/link-to-post] <p></p> <p></p>Srikkanth wasn t happy with the Indian batting and feels too many changes haven t helped: This series has so far been all about Virat Kohli and one significant partnership with him in the middle (last three with Shikhar Dhawan). Once you take those numbers out, there is little else to show. Constant chopping and changing of personnel and the batting order is not helping the team s cause either, Srikkanth said after the fourth ODI. <p></p> <p></p>India, however, came back from the Johannesburg defeat to win the Port Elizabeth ODI and take the series 4-1; their first bilateral series win in South Africa. India also ensured the No. 1 ranking in ODIs.
