NEW DELHI: Indian middle order batsmen MS Dhoni and

were at the receiving end of fan fury after India suffered their first defeat of the 2019 World Cup at the hands of hosts England in Birmingham on Sunday.

Chasing 338, India required 71 runs off the last five overs with five wickets remaining, but Dhoni and Kedar scored 40 runs as India went on to lose the match by 31 runs.

In the final 30 balls, the duo could only manage three fours and a six as the required run rate per over crossed the 14-run mark.

The effort, especially from veteran finisher Dhoni drew sharp criticism from cricket pundits and fans.

Dhoni’s style of play has been under the scanner in the last few games where he has been accused of taking too much time to settle in and not being able to clear the fence with ease, like he could earlier.

Once again on Sunday, Dhoni was not quite able to accelerate when required.

Although Dhoni ended up scoring an unbeaten 42 off 31 balls, the chase went out of hand as both he and Jadhav were not not able to find the fence in the death overs.

Though Dhoni and Jadhav have been drawing flak, the Indian batting effort overall wasn't a great one, considering India are thought to be one of the better chasing teams in world cricket. The pace of the innings and the way it was planned raised many eyebrows.

Skipper

also admitted after the match that the start (28/1 after 10 overs) was not an idle one and that had an effect in the high run chase.