Rohit: Aim is to identify batsmen at No 4 and 6

India captain Rohit Sharma Monday admitted that the team’s middle-order is still fluid and their objective will be to identify players for the No. 4 and 6 slot during the Asia Cup. India will start their Asia Cup campaign against minnows Hong Kong on Tuesday followed by the big game against Pakistan.

However, the problem for India during the past one year is the lack of a settled middle-order, which was evident during the recent ODI series defeat in England. Rohit made it clear that the likes of Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu are fighting for the key middle-order slots.

“Lot of spots are up for grabs like Nos 3, 4 and 6. All these guys [Kedar, Manish, Rayudu] are eyeing for those slots. We want to give chances to as many guys for this particular series. In this tournament, we need to seal the batting slot Nos 4 and 6,” Rohit said on the eve of the lung opener against Hong Kong.

Rohit’s answer was an indication that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will bat at number five. Ambati Rayudu is back in the Indian team having cleared the YoYo test. Kedar Jadhav is back having recovered from a hamstring surgery.

“They are both important members of this team. Rayudu was originally part of England series and similarly Kedar before his injury. It was unfortunate that they couldn’t play for some time and I am very happy that both are back in the team. I expect them to win matches for India,” said Rohit.

Mohammed Aamir and Usman Khan in Asia Cup and Mitchell Starc in Australia are some of the leftarmers that India will be encountering in their next few assignments and that’s why left-arm throwdown specialist Nuwan Seneviratne from Sri Lanka has been roped in.

The skipper seemed impressed having faced him in the nets. “We saw him in Sri Lanka and we already have two right handed throwdown experts [Raghu and Sanjay Bangar]. We will play in Australia and even in Asia Cup, where will face a few left-armers. It is a great move BCCI and is quite accurate with what he does. He is a great addition to our team.”

More than Hong Kong, it is the change in climate that might bother the players, coming from the cooler confines of English weather. “It will be a challenge as a lot of our guys are coming from England. Some of us have been here for four days now and we are getting used to it.”

“Lot of spots are up for grabs like Nos 3, 4 and 6. All these guys [Kedar, Manish, Rayudu] are eyeing for those slots. We want to give chances to as many guys for this particular series”