MS Dhoni on Ajinkya Rahane: He Did What he Does Best

By: Supriya Rajpal

India captain MS Dhoni surprised everyone by replacing Shikhar Dhawan with Ajinkya Rahane in the World T20 2016 semifinal against the West Indies in Mumbai.

Rahane, who was playing his game of the tournament, justified his captain’s faith over him, and stitched a solid opening partnership with Rohit Sharma.

He then went on to construct a similar stand with Virat Kohli for the second wicket, giving his team an ideal launchpad for the final overs of the innings.

“He is not somebody who will bat like a Rohit Sharma or a Virat Kohli but somebody orthodox who will give you that platform from which you can launch and score those extra 10 or 15 runs in the last few overs,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni said that Rahane was included in the squad seeing his record as an opener in the IPL, and he is best suited for this conditions.

“Ajinkya has very good stats, especially playing in these conditions,” the Indian captain pointed out. “Throughout the IPLs he has been the leading run-scorer when it comes to openers.”

“That was all the reasoning behind it (including him in the eleven) and after facing a few deliveries he got into his groove and did what he does best,” he added.

The Indian captain said that Dhawan wasn’t included in the playing XI because he failed to convert starts in the previous matches.

“If you see, Shikhar has been batting quite well but he has not been able to convert (the starts),” Dhoni said. “The thing with Rahane is he is somebody who is quite calm and composed and knows his role and responsibility in the team.”