Former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir has lashed out on MS Dhoni, after India faltered against England in the third One Day International (ODI) match at Headingley, on July 17. The former Indian captain is on the receiving end of critics and has received a lot of flak for his recent batting performances in the blue jersey.

Talking about his former in-command, yesteryear star Indian player Gautam Gambhir said, “The way MS played in the last game and today as well, there has been a lot of dot balls. The way he is batting, at the moment, he is putting a lot of pressure on other batsmen as well.”

Known to speak his mind in a straight-forward manner, Gambhir said, “He needs to be very much proactive as well. I have not seen MS play a lot of dot balls a couple of years back that is something he needs to work on really.”

Gambhir said that it is widely known that Dhoni takes time to settle, but then he is quite aggressive in the last 10 overs; however, that is clearly missing in the previous two games.

Watch Gautam Gambhir discuss MS Dhoni’s recent ODI form:

India were 125/3 in 25 overs, when MS Dhoni came out to bat in the third ODI, with captain Virat Kohli batting run-a-ball 53 on the other end. Initially, the intent was quite visible in his batting, but it was the dual wickets of Kohli and Suresh Raina in the same over, which saw him take a cautious approach. Later, when Hardik Pandya and Dhoni were looking to accelerate after building a steady partnership, Pandya was dismissed.

Dhoni was dismissed by David Willey in the 46^th over, and India faltered to 221/7 after his wicket. India eventually scored 256 in their quota of 50 overs – short of 25-30 runs – captain Kohli said after the match.

As India lost to England in the third ODI, and eventually the series 2-1, cricket pundits came down on MS Dhoni. How and when will Dhoni silence his critics (with his bat) is for the senior pro to answer. For now, the wicket-keeper batsman has been on the receiving end of the critics for a long time!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 11:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).