MS Dhoni meets India cricketers at Edgbaston; Young players take tips from 'Thala'

Birmingham, July 10: India cricketers had a surprise visitor at Edgbaston cricket stadium on Saturday (July 9) — MS Dhoni.

Dhoni, the former Indian captain, first met India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant in the stands after Men in Blue defeated England by 49 runs in the second T20I. India also clinched the T20I series 2-0 at Birmingham.

Dhoni later visited the Indian dressing room and met Ishan Kishan, the wicketkeeper and opener, and a few others and spent some time talking with them.

Dhoni’s last competitive outing was in IPL 2022 for the Chennai Super Kings, where the CSK failed to enter the knockout stages only for the second time in their existence.

Dhoni, who celebrated his 41st birthday earlier this week, has not announced complete retirement from the game and is expected to lead CSK in IPL 2023. Perhaps, he wants a swan song in front of his beloved Chennai crowd.

Indian pace attack led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah feasted on English bowlers and delivered tight bowling performances to help the visitors clinch the T20 series after bundling out England for 121 runs within 17 overs in the second T20I here at Birmingham on Saturday.

England had an extremely disappointing day with the bat. The highly-attacking batting line-up could not live up to its hype again, fizzling out in front of Indian pacers.

Indians moved on from their slightly-off batting performance in the first half to bundle out hosts for 121 and capture the series.

Only Moeen Ali and David Willey could put up some decent scores next to their names. The foundation for this amazing exhibition of bowling was laid by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the powerplays.

Earlier, England pacers, led by Richard Gleeson and Chris Jordan, dominated the Indian batters in the second T20I here at Birmingham as Men in Blue posted a competitive 170/8 in their 20 overs, with efforts from captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja proving extremely valuable for the visitors.