India left out the beleaguered Ishant Sharma and brought in Abhishek Nayar, by no means a specialist bowler even his right-arm medium-pace can be handy. On a track with plenty of life in it, after Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra had lopped the cream off the Caribbean batting, Dhoni brought himself on to bowl his seam-up in the 17th over at 49 for four, and struck with his fourth delivery in one-day internationals.
It was inevitable that the Indian skipper would be asked about his brief bowling stint – he took one for 14 in two overs – later in the evening. “We were playing with two fast bowlers and two spinners, and had a reserve bowler in Abhishek Nayar,” Dhoni explained. “I bowl regularly in the nets, and this was one of those wickets where I could have bowled.
“So I thought okay, if I could get in 3-4 overs and Abhishek bowls 3-4 overs at the other end, we could then bring on the spinners. Even if the West Indies had managed to bat out till the 50th over, we would only be short of three or four overs that needed to be bowled by a non-regular bowler. Under the circumstances, I thought the best thing was for me to bowl a few overs. The worst thing that could have happened was me conceding 15 runs in the over but if you bowl well, you can fill in and do that job,” the skipper added.
Those that may not have attended practice sessions might believe Dhoni took over bowling duties for a lark, but there certainly was method to his perceived madness.
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