CHENNAI: When India take the field against New Zealand on Sunday for a warm-up fixture at the Oval ahead of their Champions Trophy campaign, apart from getting acclimatised, top of priority list would be finding the right balance in the XI. In all probability, it would feature Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni at four and five with Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya in the role of finishers. But here is a catch.
In Yuvraj, Dhoni and Jadhav, India has three above 32, in a middle-order that is lower on firepower than a few years back.
Take England, for example. One of the favourites, they have a batting order full of ammunition. The likes of Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes can make mockery of any attack, especially on surfaces expected to be on the flatter side. Going by warm-up fixtures so far and the ongoing England-South Africa series, totals of 300-plus are going to be the norm and although that might lift spirits in the Indian camp, they might also be carrying a heavy baggage.
Veteran duo not at its best
Let’s face the reality. Yuvraj and Dhoni are no longer what they used to be, ones who could take the attack to the opposition and change the complexion of the match in a few overs. Soon after landing in England, Kohli spoke about giving Dhoni freedom to play his aggressive game. But whether the latter still has it in him to reproduce that is the biggest question. Yuvraj, since making his comeback in the England series, has showed glimpses of his big-hitting skills, but with his reflexes having slowed considerably, it remains to be seen how the middle-order copes in case openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan fail to last long.
“The batsmen might not have been among the runs in the IPL, but I don’t think anybody is out of form. They have just not been able to convert starts and if you look at them, they have looked in good touch. Dhawan has delivered in ICC events and with Rohit if he can give a solid start, then you have a batting line-up that can notch big totals. It is all about finding their feet as early as possible because this side has not played since the series against England in January, which is five months by the time India face Pakistan,” former India stumper Deep Dasgupta said.
Jadhav & Pandya as finishers
If Dhoni is slotted at No 5, India would hope Jadhav and Pandya can play the role of finishers, which can be a thankless job. It is the kind of job that Dhoni did without much of a fuss, even if there were days India failed to cross the line. But, in case, like Kohli said, Dhoni indeed gets the freedom to express himself more freely, then the job will be half done.
“I would say we needed to strengthen our lower-middle order. I felt too much burden was coming on MS in the past couple of years. He wasn’t able to express himself purely because of the fact there were not enough guys showing composure to finish off games with him. But having had Kedar and Hardik do so well in that particular phase of the innings has strengthened our squad. Hardik provides that beautiful balance to us. That was one area we needed to strengthen,” Kohli said.
venkata.krishna@newindianexpress.com