By: Tarish Bhatt
Looking at the batting line-up of Team India, only the openers – Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan – seem to have the permanent positions, while the rest of batsmen are floating up and down the order.
In the first two ODIs against South Africa, Ajinkya Rahane played at number three, followed by Virat Kohli and skipper MS Dhoni. But, Kohli came out at number three, followed by Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane in the 3rd ODI.
Promotion of Virat Kohli in the Rajkot ODI brought back his form, while Ajinkya Rahane failed to up the ante at number six, as pointed out by the skipper on a number of times.
Only skipper MS Dhoni, who seems to have regained his touch, has managed to fire in last two ODIs against South Africa, while playing at number five and four, respectively.
Despite mixed results, Team India’s experiment with the batting order is likely to continue in coming games. “We are looking for batsmen to play at 5, 6 and 7,” MS Dhoni said. “Till they play there, we won’t know who is a good bet over there.
“And we are looking to give chances as well so it’s a tricky one,” Dhoni added. “Jinx batted well at 3 but Virat couldn’t score, this is something we will have to look at.”
The India limited-overs captain, meanwhile, praised bowlers for putting up a good performance, especially the death overs bowled by Mohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“I thought our bowlers did well, maybe a bit more dew would have made it difficult,” MS Dhoni said. “They batted when the wicket was at its best and they also couldn’t find runs at the death.”
