WATCH | MS Dhoni’s swing bowling gives Axar Patel an early taste of South Africa

Is there anything MS Dhoni cannot do? His fans have often ended up asking this question on the social media as the World-Cup winning skipper continues to amaze people even today with his tremendous vision and presence of mind on the field. It cannot be denied that Virat Kohli’s unbelievable record as India’s captain owes a huge credit to the guardian and master-mind behind the stumps.

In a recent video clip of India’s net practice at Dharamsala ahead of their opening ODI against Sri Lanka on Sunday, Dhoni was seen bowling with slow strides to Axar Patel. Not being even a part-time bowler of sorts, Dhoni’s bowling action wasn’t a perfect one and to some extent remained unconventional. However, the IPL hard-hitter was clearly seen struggling to even get a touch of them.

Spending years behind the stumps at numerous venues and turfs around the world, Dhoni is expected to know the right areas of the 22 yards and the experienced player was hitting the deck exactly on spot. Patel, who seemed to practice batting for the upcoming South African tour next year, kept a straight bat close to the body and almost had an outside edge on the two out-swinging deliveries by Dhoni. The only ball he managed to get a touch was an in-swinging one, which was defended safely.

Despite coming in handy with the ball at times in ODIs for India this year, where Patel has managed to take 10 wickets, the 23-year-old from Gujarat has struggled with the bat. He has managed just 11 runs in nine games, something which might bother stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma in the upcoming series.