By: Tarish Bhatt
It’s about time that MS Dhoni starts batting higher up the batting order. Yes, he may have won you the 3rd ODI against the West Indies in Antigua at No.5 position, but it would make a plenty of difference if he bats at number 4.
It’s been proven too. If Dhoni bats higher up the order, India’s chance of winning games increases all the time.
Not just the 2011 World Cup final, when he went up the order to finish a successful run-chase for India. An impact player like him scoring at the top of the order makes a lot of difference to the end result.
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The fact that Dhoni is capable of building foundation for a successful run-chases can also be proven if he is made to bat higher up the order. Without captaincy burden – this is all the more reason he should come up the order.
The team management or Dhoni himself agrees to bat higher is a difficult question to answer right now. But, India team needs this change. Friday was one such days, which saw Dhoni playing a very responsible knock for his team.
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He made an unbeaten 78, and paced his innings perfectly to take India out of trouble after the visitors lost three wickets within 100 runs. He also shared an important stand with another in-form batsmen Ajinkya Rahane.
Towards the end, it was Dhoni’s partnership with Kedar Yadav that was the perfect icing on the cake. Later, the spinners – Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav – spun their web to restrict the West Indies to score of 158.
