Rohit differs with Kohli
Sydney, Jan. 12: Differing with his skipper Virat Kohli’s views, India’s ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday said Mahendra Singh Dhoni is “ideal” for the number four slot, as the team works on getting the batting order right for the World Cup.
Rohit added it was his personal view and that the captain and the coach will have the final say on the batting slots. Dhoni on Saturday made a slow 51 from 96 balls in India’s 34-run defeat to Australia in the first ODI, sparking another debate about his current form in a World Cup year.
“Personally, I always feel that Dhoni batting at number four will be ideal for the team but we have got Ambati Rayudu who has done really well now at number four. It totally depends on what the captain and coach think about it. Personally asking, I would be happy if Dhoni bats at four,” Rohit said.
Kohli had earlier expressed his preference for Rayudu to other players for the contentious position. “If you look at his (Dhoni’s) overall batting, his strike rate is around 90. Today was a different scenario, when he came out to bat we had already lost three wickets and Australia were bowling pretty well. You just cannot go out and get 100run partnership easily. So we took a little bit of time and even I did not score as quickly as I normally do,” Rohit said.
“I took my time too because we wanted to get that partnership and losing another wicket at that point, the game would have been dead there and then. So, we had to play dot balls and build a partnership,” he explained.