Lockie Ferguson Exclusive: Still Surprised Dhoni Left a ‘Sh*t’ Ball in World Cup

Six years on, MS Dhoni's leave at the 2019 World Cup semi-final still bemuses Lockie Ferguson.

Lockie Ferguson Interview: Still Surprised MS Dhoni Left a ‘Sh*t’ Ball in 2019 World Cup Semi-Final

(Photo: X)

The 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup is scarcely a tournament Indian fans would wish to revisit, particularly now that the team has secured two men’s ICC titles in as many years — the T20 World Cup in 2024, followed by this year’s Champions Trophy.

Yet, should you absolutely have to walk down the memory lane and gather recollections of that summer in England, which image most starkly endures?

For many, it would be the heartbreak of MS Dhoni’s run out in the penultimate over of the semi-final against New Zealand. Lockie Ferguson ramped up a sharp, searing bouncer, which caught the former Indian captain by surprise. Dhoni tucked it towards the leg side and attempted to run two, and at deep backward square leg, Martin Guptill had only one stump to aim at. Aim he did, running Dhoni out, as the nation collectively learned why cricket is regarded as a game of millimetres.

Six Years On, Lockie Ferguson Still Doesn’t Have Answers to Dhoni’s Leave

Could Dhoni have dived? It remains a question that continues to torment Indian cricket’s collective memory.

What also lingers is another enduring image featuring the same batter-bowler pairing, captured only a few minutes earlier.

It was the third delivery of the 43rd over. India’s score, at that point, read 169/6, and in a chase of 240, they still needed 71 runs from 46 deliveries. The required run rate had climbed to above 9 runs per over — a steep ask on a spiteful Manchester surface — and only regular boundaries could save India’s cause.

Ferguson had bowled with exceptional control over his line and length till that point, conceding 22 runs in his first seven overs, but on that particular delivery, he deviated from the usual and pitched the ball short and wide.

In an exclusive conversation with The Quint, the Kiwi speedster acknowledged that it was ‘sh*t’ ball, but it was bowled according to plan. The Kane Williamson-led team were trying to get Dhoni to throw his bat at it, in an attempt to get him caught at the boundary. And considering the ever-ascending required run rate, they expected Dhoni to opt for a swing. Instead, he chose to leave the ball, triggering a look of utter bemusement from Ferguson — an image which still does rounds on the internet, six years on.

Speaking about his reaction, the pacer said:

I was surprised, because honestly, it was a sh*t ball. Most batters would have hit it for a six or a four, so I was really surprised that he left it. So, the plan for the next time was to get him caught if he was going to play a shot, and he did. Unfortunately in that game, he hit it just over the head of Mitchell Santner.

Lockie Ferguson

Indeed, the next time Ferguson cranked it up short and wide, Dhoni did swing his bat and cleared Mitchell Santner at deep point by a few inches. Unfortunately for him, he lost his wicket to a precise Martin Guptill throw by an even smaller margin only a delivery later.

Ferguson recalls:

Dhoni is someone who is very calculated when it comes to the death overs, so it was really good for Gup (Martin Guptill) to run him out that day. It was a special day. The match was played over two days so it was an ususual experience, but it is a game I remember fondly.

Lockie Ferguson

The Indian fans might remember it too, at times, but not with fondness, certainly.