You need to chase down 304 in an ODI, your opening batsman makes a 150 and still you lose then it is time for some serious introspection on your game plan and strategy. In the first ODI of the Gandhi-Mandela series at Kanpur, India was on the brink of a victory, but still lost by 5 runs. There could be many reasons for a loss, but when one of them is poor team selection, then questions are raised on the captain and the team management. The Kanpur loss makes a case for such an analysis.
Rahane has no place in Indian ODI team: Ajinkya Rahane is one of the most talented batsmen in India today. Time and again he has shown his worth in the Indian test team. With such brilliant show of talent in the test arena and with some scintillating batting performance for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, Rahane made it impossible for the selectors to ignore him in the Indian ODI side. However as the Kanpur ODI loss shows Rahane’s inclusion in the playing eleven creates a lot of problems for the line up. If he is not playing as an opener, which is improbable as long as the right hand-left hand combination of Rohit Sharma-Shikar Dhawan plays well, accommodating Rahane could cause imbalance to the team. If he is made to play at No.3 then you need to move down Virat Kohli from that number, which is undesirable owing to Kohli’s brilliant performance over the years at that number. At the same time if Rahane is moved further down, he may have to bat in the death overs, where he may have to start hitting from the first ball itself, which a player of his style may find difficult to adopt. Before the start of the Kanpur match, Dhoni had also hinted at the possibility of not considering Rahane in the playing eleven.
Kohli at No.3: Virat Kohli has the highest average while chasing. At Hobart against Sri Lanka in 2012, at Nagpur against Australia in 2013 and at many other successful Indian chases we have seen the No.3 batsman taking his game a notch higher. While Kohli has such a good record at that position, it is silly to remove him from that position in order to accommodate Rahane. In the match at Kanpur one could also see how disturbed Kohli appeared when he was not sent in to bat at No.3. During the season of 2002, Indian had experimented similarly with the batting position of Sachin Tendulkar whereby he was removed from the opening position and was made to bat at No.4. The strategy was reverted after a short span as no particular benefit had come to the team from such a move.
Dhoni at No.4: As Shiamak Unwalla argues in his article in Cricket Country, Dhoni is no longer the finisher he was in the past. It is quite visible nowadays that Dhoni’s finishing abilities are on the decline, as seen in the Kanpur ODI. However it is would be foolish to assume that his days as a batsman are over. Again coming back to the example of Sachin Tendulkar, we have seen that in the latter part of his career, the legend adopted a new style of batting, quite different from the dashing style he had had in the former years of his career. Similarly Dhoni’s position now in the team would be more of the anchor that teams need in the middle overs. Dhoni himself has shown his interest to bat at No.4, from where he can control the pace of the game. He is one of those batsmen who is good at finding the gaps and making singles and doubles, a skill much needed in the middle overs of an ODI.
Binny’s place untenable: It is a shame that India’s quest for an all-rounder ended with Stuart Binny, who can at best be described as mediocre. One can hardly fail to notice the fact that Roger Binny’s position as a national selector when his son Stuart is in the probable list is a matter of conflict of interest. And when you consider junior Binny’s record in the international matches he has played so far, you cannot help but think that he is in the Indian team only because his father is a selector. If he is the bowling all-rounder then he should at least be able to economically bowl his full quota of 10 overs, if not taking lot of wickets. If he is the batting all-rounder, he should be able to play a match winning innings with the bat. But as of now he hasn’t shown any particular talent in either of the department. It is high time India move on and find an all-rounder who has the abilities to become a match winner.
Dhoni has always been known as a person who adapts well with the changing circumstances. He also has the services of Ravi Shastri, often considered a walking example of practical wisdom, as the Director of the team. They both need to come together and find solutions to the problems so that India could turn the tide and get back to winning ways.
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