Indian Batting Top Order Still Remains A Concern , Even though Team India celebrated the 48-run victory over the West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday, the skipper later stated that this was an ‘˜eye opener’ for them.
Even though Team India and MS Dhoni celebrated the 48-run victory over the West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday, the skipper later stated that this was an ‘eye opener’ for them.
Indeed it was, with the batting at the top of the order failing yet again to fire and had to be dependent on Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni’s heroics in the latter stages.
Even though the bowlers did a fine job in the second innings, Dhoni and the management need a ‘serious’ think about of their future plans.
During the 2nd ODI, none of the openers were able to give a proper start. Playing on his home turf, opener Shikhar Dhawan couldn’t provide the fireworks inspite of coming on the back of a brilliant 68 in the 1st game. Also, Ajinkya Rahane was out to a loose shot and with Rohit Sharma injured; the opening slot looks by far the weakest zone for the Indian team.
In the coming Australian tour as well as the World Cup to follow, India will face a barrage of short pitch deliveries as well as some talented fast bowlers in the likes of Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson. Aussie pitches are known to offer a great deal of help to the faster bowlers and with the quick conditions as well; the Men In Blue could be in for a tough time ahead.
In the England series, the opening batsmen failed to give a blistering start to the team. In Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, India have two able batsmen who can give the team a solid momentum if their feet are set in. But off late, Dhawan has hit a patchy form whereas Rohit Sharma is injured thus bringing in fellow Mumbaikar, Ajinkya Rahane. The latter has yet to convince to Dhoni about the opening order slot and that may worry the management in the coming games.
Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar also cited about the opening order. Speaking to news channel he said, “With Virat Kohli out of form and for him to get so much time in the middle is a big plus. But I think it is at the top of the order that India really has to work because they haven’t given the start. Either one is scoring or the other is and that is a bit iffy. If India can get off to a big start – an 80, 90 or even a 100, it makes it easy for numbers three, four and five in the batting lineup.”
With the World Cup in mind, MS Dhoni must take a calculated risk at the top of the order if he has to save the country’s ambition of retaining the ‘world championship’ status.
