CHENNAI: A couple of days ago, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was belligerent about having the problem of plenty. Now that the team has got off to a flying start in their World Cup, Dhoni would want to settle down in the tournament with the right combination.
With Virender Sehwag in prime form, the batting looked intimidating. Standing on a good platform, Virat Kohli did not waste the opportunity and cemented his place in the side by scoring an unbeaten century.
Dhoni made it clear that he is looking at Yusuf Pathan to play those cameos when he pushed the latter ahead of himself and Yuvraj Singh. Former player Madan Lal believes that since Yusuf Pathan is the genuine all-rounder in the team, he is an automatic choice. “Yusuf’s prowess to hit big automatically earns him a berth. His bowling can restrict the batsmen too,” said Lal.
Now, the battle remains for just one spot in the final XI as the bowling with Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh and (a fit) Ashish Nehra looks settled. And the two suitors – Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina — have recently struggled to find form. Yuvraj’s form can be gauged from this fact that in his last 20 ODIs he has scored 440 runs at an average of 27.5 and strike rate of 69.73 as compared to his career figures of 36.61 and 87.65 respectively. Although Raina looked composed in the warm-up game against New Zealand, his difficulty against short-balls have been exploited lately.
Bishen Singh Bedi feels since India lacks a left-arm spinner, Yuvraj will get the nod. “The team needs a left-arm tweaker and Yuvraj has done the job for years. Anyway, a player like him can strike form at any point in the game,” said Bedi.
Chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth feels the team is fortunate to have the problem of plenty rather than having the problem of empty. “This is a happy problem. There is healthy competition in the side and everyone is willing to give their best,” said Srikkanth.