‘No experiments, can’t bat Jadhav or Hardik at top’
With the five-match ODI series against a side that has been struggling to revive itself in the past few years, it was expected India would give the likes of Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav more responsibility in order to have all bases covered come the 2019 World Cup.
With Yuvraj Singh struggling to find his mojo and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the best finishers in ODIs, failing to take the team past the finishing line while chasing a meager 190, there was a chance to test Pandya, Kedar and even Rishabh Pant at No. 3 or 4. But Virat Kohli – after leading the team to 3-1 series win with a record breaking century at Kingston – defended his claim on not experimenting much throughout the series.
The India skipper said it’s important to respect all opposition and understand what’s best for the team.
“You can’t make a Hardik [Pandya] or Kedar [Jadhav] bat at No. 3 and 4 and make your top-order batsman bat lower down. It’s still international cricket and you have to be respectful towards oppositions and whatever games that you play and its very important to understand what works for you as a team and you’ve got to keep sticking to it. We keep giving them confidence and both guys are very eager to make dents, which they have in the past, and we’re very confident of their abilities and we’re actually delighted to have found two lower order batsmen who can play that explosive cricket.
“Kedar’s knock, if you saw in that low-scoring game the other day, he made the difference when he came in the end, and Hardik’s knock in the Champions Trophy final and in the first game as well. So these guys can play impact innings for you.
What Kohli has said it makes sense but one fact that can’t be negated is that in the past 2-3 years, India’s top-order has done bulk of the scoring in limitedovers. With Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik being inconsistent and Yuvraj seemingly well past his prime, it was an ideal opportunity to unleash someone like Kedar or Pant at the top.
Kedar Jadhav, who has an average of 56.50 in 25 ODIs, is a good bet at No. 6 but one can’t overlook the truck loads of runs the pocket-sized dynamite has scored while batting at No 4 -5 for Maharashtra in domestic circuit. As for Pant and Hardik, they’re also proven Ranji
performers.