Dhawan, Rahane excel before rain
SOUND START Openers hit halfcenturies in a century stand before Caribbean weather stops play
PORTOFSPAIN: While India skipper Virat Kohli had suggested on the eve of the One-day series against West Indies that there are places up for grabs in the team for the World Cup 2019, the pressure is on Yuvraj Singh to prove his worth if he is to make the cut for the event.
Kohli has been backing the southpaw, but going by the way he has been performing it seems it’ll be hard for him to keep his place unless he does extraordinarily well with the bat.
On Thursday, at the practice session, Yuvi had a long session against the spinners, usually his problem area. However on Friday, it was West Indies captain Jason Holder who got him out through a soft dismissal. Yuvraj tried to flick through the leg-side but was caught at midwicket by local player Evin Lewis, falling for just four.
India, asked to bat first by Holder, had made a superb start with openers Shikhar Dhawan (87) and Ajinkya Rahane (62) raising a 132-run stand.
India lost three quick wickets from there and were 189/3 after 38 overs when rain interrupted the match for an hour. Play resumed only for it to be stopped after nine more deliveries with more showers forcing players in.
India were 199/3 at that point with skipper Virat Kohli (32 no) and MS Dhoni (9 no) batting.
This weak West Indies attack is expected to provide an excellent opportunity to Yuvraj to cement his place. But Friday’s failure continues his recent ordinary run with only a half-century against Pakistan in the Champions Trophy group stage worth remembering.
In the final against Pakistan, Yuvraj fell clumsily, exposing his chinks against spinners. Leggie Shadab Khan first deceived him with a wrong ‘un and then got him leg-before.
On Friday, he was brought under pressure by leg spinner Devendra Bishoo, who kept a leash on scoring. He couldn’t get runs in the first few deliveries from Bishoo when the need of the hour was big hitting as India approached the death overs.
The pressure built and he tried to work a Jason Holder delivery through the leg-side, only for Lewis to intercept and force Yuvraj to return to the pavilion.
SOLID START
Earlier, Dhawan and Rahane had laid a strong platform by raising their partnership in 25 overs. Rahane is making a comeback to the team, replacing Rohit Sharma here, and he followed the Champions Trophy script where the openers always started slow but were steady.
Rahane got to his 17th ODI half-century with an edge that went past the wicketkeeper. Dhawan, who looked solid against the West Indies bowlers on a slow wicket, got to his 20th half-century with a six.
Both looked set for hundreds but Rahane lobbed a simple catch to mid-on. Dhawan fell on 87, trapped leg-before by Bishoo. The opener then wasted a review as it looked plumb in front.