MS DHONI SHOULD BAT AT NO 4, SAYS VIRENDER SEHWAG

MUMBAI:

Virender Sehwag believes India’s middle order is still a work in progress, and captain Virat Kohli should bring MS Dhoni back at No 4 to strengthen it. Sehwag also called for nurturing players like Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya or even Kedar Jadhav in the role of finishers. “There’s scope for improvement in the middle order. Dhoni should play up the order,” Sehwag told India TV.

“I think Kohli fears that if Dhoni comes at No 4 and loses his wicket early, there won’t be anyone in the finishing spot. But Kohli should send him up the order and hand the finisher’s role to Pandey or Pandya or Jadhav.” Sehwag’s observation comes after India’s dominant show in the six-match ODI series, wherein the top order remained largely unchallenged. While Kohli went on to score 558 runs at an average of 186 with three centuries and one half-century, Shikhar Dhawan scored 323 runs and fellow opener Rohit Sharma managed to break his South African jinx by scoring a fine match-winning century at Port Elizabeth in the penultimate ODI.

Sehwag also warned the Indian team of a possible backlash post the humiliation in the ODI series. “Having suffered a defeat in the ODIs, South Africa will look to perform better when they take on India in the first T20I,” Sehwag said. Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat, Suresh Raina and KL Rahul have joined the team for the T20I series, which will conclude on February 24. “Rahul can come in place of (Ajinkya) Rahane as he’s a better striker as far as T20s are concerned,” Sehwag said. He warned that the form of wrist spinners was significant. “If they (Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal) concede runs and fail to get wickets, India will lose the T20 series.”