by Shashi Agarwal
After India came to the Asia Cup without the services of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, there were lot of talks about how Indian batting will cpoe with it.In India’s second match of the series a part of it has been exposed.
Priceless Dhoni
Though Dhoni might not be suitable for Test cricket, but in ODIs he is an asset to the team.Though unorthodox, but still effective with his desi style of batting. He can adapt to the situations , something he has developed over the years.When he first came to the scene, he was just one who can hit few biggies. But he soon realised that he will soon be screwed when time runs against him, something that has happened to many subcontinental batsman.He curbed his natural instincts to perfection when India were in trouble and slowed down the proceedings, but launched at the right time.
Current Middle Order
The problem with current batting lineup is that ,without Dhoni India doesn’t have someone who can finish the match.Given Raina has failed of late, India is left with no options.No doubt, Jadeja and Ashwin can play cameos but it is not always sufficient.The present middle order comprises of Rahane, Karthik and Rayadu, all of them are accumulators rather than big hitters.They take some time to settle down and then may launch themselves.It is well and good if the top order fails and they have to build an innings.But the problem arises when the platform is already set for them to launch, something that happened today against SriLanka.After Kohli and Dhawan had set a platform, it needed Rayadu and co. to accelerate and they all failed.
With India reluctant to use Binny as an option of fnisher,and no other option in the squad, with Pujara being the other batsman in the squad,it will be interesting how India goes with it.May be we see a shuffle in the batting order.
