Can’t have two wicketkeepers, says Vengsarkar
Throwing all pre-series predictions of a cakewalk for India out of the window, this talented bunch of West Indies cricketers have stormed back to level the series and pushed India captain Kohli and manager Ravi Shastri into taking a big call. All eyes are on the outcome of the meeting of India team’s think-tank to decide the playing XI for Monday’s ODI. Kedar Jadhav is back and has to be fitted into the playing XI. Though injury-prone, Jadhav provides the balance with his part-time bowling. Former India captain Vengsarkar observed India find themselves in a corner because of flawed selection in playing a pure batsman short. In the post-match interview, captain Virat Kohli had hinted of resting a bowler for Jadhav. Vengsarkar, a former chairman of selectors, is clear India can’t experiment with two wicketkeepers. “They can’t have two wicket-keepers in the team. The selection of the playing XI has not been up to the mark,” said Vengsarkar. Asked who would be his choice between the young Rishabh Pant and the experienced M S Dhoni. Vengsarkar put the onus on the team management.
Pant has taken the Test arena by storm while Dhoni’s keeping skills have gone up a notch higher. Dhoni would have been an automatic choice but has come under pressure due to his poor run with the bat. In how he has performed in the last three tournaments, versus England, Asia Cup and the three games so far versus West Indies, it is clear he is closer to finish.
When asked for his analysis on Dhoni’s issues with bat, Vengsarkar observed: “He is fit but he his form is suspect. That is because he doesn’t play all the formats and doesn’t play domestic cricket as well. It is tough to straightaway come and play international cricket.”
It is how it they all went – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. The runs simply dried up. An example was seen in the second ODI at Visakhapatnam, when Dhoni batted like the Dhoni of the IPL 2018 while racing to 20 (25 balls), then he got a good ball and his defence was breached, despite having middled every ball till then. At Pune, he got 7 off 11. Dhoni’s ambition of playing the 2019 World Cup entirely depends on how convinced the Indian management is about his utility.
They will have to weigh whether they want someone who is a proven champ of soaking in the pressure or a confident young gun like Pant.
Dhoni scored a 59-ball 37 at Lord’s (2nd ODI) when the asking rate kept climbing. In the final game at Leeds, he performed slightly better with 66-ball 42. Against England and in the Asia Cup, India experimented with two ‘keepers, playing Dinesh Karthik as pure batsman, before the axe fell on Karthik. The cricketing logic behind the experiment is questionable!