Mumbai: For the past few months, India have had the answer to the newly-brewing KL Rahul vs Shikhar Dhawan debate or the second opener owing to latter's injury or Rohit Sharma's absence. But when the first real test of the management came at deciding on the position in the batting lineup, skipper Virat Kohli said, "there's a possibility all three might play," implying the possibility of him going to No.4.
Exactly what happened when India took on the Australian side in the first ODI at Wankhede. Virat Kohli made KL Rahul bat at no.3. Notably Virat has been under scanner for showing his favoritism for KL Rahul, he was given extended run in the side even after failing to perform.
By playing KL Rahul at no.3 not only Virat Kohli disturbed his own batting position but also disturbed the whole batting line up also India have to contain with just 5 bowling options with this move.
Kohli moves to No.4, Shreyas Iyer was forced to bat at No.5, where surprisingly he has a better average, only a tad bit than No.4, in four innings which include a back-to-back fifty in West Indies in 2019. Iyer was only slowly establishing himself as a No.4 batsman post World Cup, has touted Iyer to be India's long-term No.4 option. Suddenly he has to reassess again.
Moreover, Iyer at No.5 means Rishabh Pant will be at No.6 and India will be going in with just five bowling options against Australia at venues with flat tracks and smaller boundaries. One between Ravindra Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav will be part of the lineup and the remaining will be the premier bowlers.
All such series of problems just to accommodate that one player! Shikhar Dhawan didn't do too bad in ODI's before he was injured traditionally he should be back in the side and replace KL Rahul. Rahul has performed good in absence of Shikhar but Shikhar deserves the place as he was not dropped.
Such moves not only creates insecurity among players about the place in the team but also takes away confidence from players and not just one player but many players.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment