It was tactical blunder to send Dhoni at number seven say former greats

India committed a "tactical blunder" by dropping MS Dhoni to number seven in the batting order, said former stalwarts Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, who were baffled by the move in the World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.

Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik were sent ahead of Dhoni when India were positioned precariously at five for three and later 24 for four.

Eventually, it became a too tough a task to complete as India fell short by 18 runs.

"Dhoni should have come ahead of Pandya. It was a tactical blunder. Dhoni should have walked ahead of Dinesh Karthik. Stage was set for Dhoni. In 2015 final also, he promoted himself up to bat at number four ahead of Yuvraj Singh and won the World Cup," rued Laxman.

Former skipper Ganguly said it's not just about Dhoni's batting but his calming effect on the young batsmen, batting from the other end.

Rishabh Pant was set but threw away his wicket when he attacked spinner Mitchell Santener. Skipper Virat Kohli was seen having an animated chat with coach Ravi Shatsri immediately after Pant's dismissal.

"India needed experience at that stage. If Dhoni was there when Pant was batting, he would not have allowed Pant to play that shot against the breeze. In England, it's a big factor. He would have told him to go after pacer, when mid-off and mid-on is up, because he is good at that.

"Dhoni should have batted up. You need that composure and not just his batting. He would not have allowed wickets to fall in cluster. Dhoni was there when Jadeja batted. Communication is strength. You can't have Dhoni at number seven," Ganguly told official broadcaster Star Sports."
"The one criticism (for selectors) is that they fiddled around the middle order."
Looking forward, Ganguly said,"What India need to do is to push Rishabh Pant to number five. Kohli can bat at number four, if KL Rahul is solution at number three when Shikhar Dhawan comes back. India will have to identify the middle order batsmen and persist with them."