{"id":26130,"date":"2020-07-06T14:44:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T09:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/?p=26130"},"modified":"2020-07-06T14:44:57","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T09:14:57","slug":"ms-dhoni-ab-de-villiers-and-semis-heartbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/ms-dhoni-ab-de-villiers-and-semis-heartbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"MS Dhoni, AB de Villiers and the New Zealand semis heartbreak connect"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 24, 2015. World Cup semi-final<\/a>. Eden Park, Auckland. New Zealand vs South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n

The Proteas are boosted by fifties from Faf du Plessis and skipper AB de Villiers<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n

In a rain-adjusted target, Brendon McCullum puts on a show but South Africa fight back. <\/p>\n\n\n

Catches are dropped, run-outs are missed. <\/p>\n\n\n

After 85.5 overs, Grant Elliott launches Dale Steyn for a six as New Zealand make it to their first World Cup final. 45000 people are delirious with joy. <\/p>\n\n\n

At the other end, South Africa\u2019s hopes are cruelly dashed. Eden Park sees tears from Steyn, Morne Morkel, Faf du Plessis and even AB de Villiers.<\/p>\n\n\n

July 9,10, 2019. World Cup semi-final. Old Trafford, Manchester. <\/p>\n\n\n

In a rain-affected game again, a one-dayer becomes a two-day international. Kane Williamson sparkles with a fifty as New Zealand reach 239\/8. <\/p>\n\n\n

India are blown away by Matt Henry and Trent Boult and at 92\/6, Virat Kohli’s side had an uphill task. <\/p>\n\n\n

Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni<\/a> keep the fight alive for India. Jadeja smashes 50 but with 32 needed off 14 balls, he falls to Boult.<\/p>\n\n\n

In the next over bowled by Lockie Ferguson, Dhoni smashes a six that takes fans back to the 2011 World Cup final shot against Sri Lanka\u2019s Thisara Perera. 25 needed off 10. Then, the moment. <\/p>\n\n\n

Dhoni attempts a second but is caught short by a rocket throw from Martin Guptill at deep square leg. Dhoni departs for 50 and 1.3 billion Indians\u2019 dreams are extinguished as India are eliminated with the 18-run loss.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"AB
Dejected:<\/strong> AB de Villiers revealed the real reason for his retirement as the New Zealand semi-final loss in 2015 World Cup. (Credits: Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

A common link<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

The two semi-finals share a common link. Apart from New Zealand and the World Cup semi-final, these two games played a massive part in the playing careers of MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers. <\/p>\n\n\n

The South Africa skipper chose to skip matches, was in and out of the side and was plagued by injury. <\/p>\n\n\n

Suddenly in 2018, with South Africa preparing for the 2019 World Cup, he suddenly announced his retirement, citing that \u2018he was tired\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n

Two years later, in a conversation with Cricbuzz, he revealed the real reason for his retirement and it was the New Zealand semi-final loss. \u201cThat really wore me down a touch but I kept playing, I tried to bite the bullet, I tried to be there. <\/p>\n\n\n

The next 12 months was really tough for me. Maybe I should\u2019ve been more honest about it when I look back and communicated about it,\u201d AB de Villiers said.<\/p>\n\n\n

If de Villiers could not digest the loss against New Zealand, then the Dhoni conundrum has been a major source of speculation for the last one year. Many have speculated that the semi-final game was Dhoni\u2019s last. <\/p>\n\n\n

If one applies the de Villiers logic, then this comment by Dhoni is an indicator that he too was scarred mentally.<\/p>\n\n\n

In a conversation with India Today in January, Dhoni expressed his hurt when he said, \u201cIn my first game, I was run-out and this game again I was run-out. I keep telling myself why didn’t I dive. <\/p>\n\n\n

Those two inches I still keep telling myself I should have dived.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\"MS
Low and Down:<\/strong> MS Dhoni has been off the field since the semi-finals defeat against New Zealand. (Credits: Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Not played actively<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

De Villiers and Dhoni have been scarred by the losses to New Zealand. <\/p>\n\n\n

The Proteas skipper played 16 Tests, 41 ODIs, 17 T20Is until his retirement in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n

He was predominantly a Twenty20 freelancer and continues to be even now. <\/p>\n\n\n

However, Dhoni has not played any competitive cricket for the last one year. <\/p>\n\n\n

With the coronavirus pandemic now stalling cricket and with the ICC World T20 all but postponed in 2020, the chances of his comeback are slim. <\/p>\n\n\n

There is growing speculation of AB de Villiers\u2019 availability back in the team but that is also looking difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n

New Zealand are known to punch above their weight in major tournaments. However, in the last five years, they have acquired a reputation of a potential career killer of certain legends. <\/p>\n\n\n

The current status of de Villiers and Dhoni are proof. If Dhoni retires, then New Zealand\u2019s reputation as legend killers might be cemented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 24, 2015. World Cup semi-final. Eden Park, Auckland. New Zealand vs South Africa. The Proteas are boosted by fifties from Faf du Plessis and skipper AB de Villiers. In a rain-adjusted target, Brendon McCullum puts on a show but South Africa fight back. Catches are dropped, run-outs are missed. After 85.5 overs, Grant Elliott […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":26127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,563,818,43,2687,602],"tags":[2685,3896,5585,1828,89,62,5586,5587,5588],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kyrosports.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}