Martin Guptill of New Zealand has said that he still receives hate E-mails from India following his direct throw to run out MS Dhoni in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final.
Chasing 240, Team India fell to 24/4 and then 92/6, with chances of winning a third ODI World Cup fading. However, a courageous Dhoni, well assisted by Ravindra Jadeja, revitalized the innings and gave Indian supporters renewed hope.
Despite Jadeja’s dismissal for 77, Dhoni’s presence in the final two overs offered India a better than even chance of a stunning victory. With 25 runs needed off 10 deliveries, the former Indian captain flapped a bouncer from Lockie Ferguson and raced for the second run to keep strike.
Guptill came in from deep square leg and struck a straight hit with one stump to aim with. His missile landed inches away from Dhoni, sealing India’s destiny.
Martin Guptill responded to a Hindustan Times inquiry about the straight hit during the current Legends League Cricket.
“In other words, the whole of India doesn’t like me. I get plenty of hate mails from there. “It’s one of those things that happened so quickly in the moment.”
Martin Guptill
He added:
“All I remember was I saw the ball go up and I then I thought, oh no, it’s coming sort of more towards me. So I put the skates on to get on with that run. I knew there was no chance of a throw at the stumps, but I just tried to have a shot and only had one and a half stumps to aim at and I just got lucky. The stars aligned, and it was a perfect throw.”
Martin Guptill
New Zealand won by 18 runs and went to the final, where they were defeated in a Super Over by the hosts, England.
The game turned out to be MS Dhoni’s final international appearance in his brilliant career.
The Men in Blue avenged their 2019 setback by defeating the Blackcaps by 70 runs in the 2023 World Cup semi-final.
“I’m not an active international cricketer” – Martin Guptill
Martin Guptill confirmed that he is no longer active in international cricket but stated his desire to continue playing in New Zealand.
In New Zealand’s World Cup campaigns in 2015 and 2019, a 37-year-old player played a crucial role. In the 2015 quarter-final against the West Indies, he scored a phenomenal 237* runs.
“I’m not an active international cricketer. I haven’t finished cricket in New Zealand yet. But yes, I’m retired. For me, it was always going to be retire after the 23 World Cup and then look to play a few leagues around the world and see the way things transpired back home.”
Martin Guptill
Guptill was a white-ball cornerstone for New Zealand, scoring over 7,300 ODI and 2,500 T20I runs, including 21 hundreds.
He is currently playing for the Urbanisers Hyderabad in the ongoing Legends League Cricket (LLC).