Kohli U-turn: Rahane in at No 4 › ›
Ajinkya will be seen as a third opener, but situation can change because he has batted at No 4 in a World Cup. You play fast bowling throughout, so he becomes a strong candidate On Rahane at No 4 We don’t want to be onedimensional. It depends whose technique is suited for what spot, especially in that country...we feel the core of players is more or less sorted. On India’s World Cup squad
DURBAN: It seems Ajinkya Rahane’s good outing in the Johannesburg Test and media’s criticism of skipper Virat Kohli for omitting him for the first two Tests has done the Mumbai batsman a world of good.
Kohli has changed his previous stance, an obstinate one, of earmarking him only as an opener in the 50-over format.
On the eve of the ODI series against South Africa, the India skipper said, “We have explored many options in the last few months. We don’t have too many series and too much time left before the World Cup, we want to explore all the options before that. I had said earlier that
“Ajinkya will be looked at as a third opener, but that situation can change because he has batted at No 4 in a World Cup before. These conditions are such that you get to play fast bowling throughout the innings, so he becomes a strong candidate for No 4.”
The batting slot has been tough to fill since Yuvraj Singh went out of the frame. India have tried many, including former skipper MS Dhoni, in the position, but none has clicked.
Rahane, who played an important knock on a treacherous wicket in the second innings of the
Johannesburg Test, had scored a game-changing 79 (60 balls) against the Proteas in the 2015 World Cup in Australia.
Kohli though said he wants to have all options. “We don’t want to be one-dimensional. It depends whose technique is suited for what spot, especially in that particular country.”
WORK IN PROGRESS
Kohli feels the middle order still needs to be sorted as India gear up for the World Cup, which is 18 months away. “Middle order is something that… although the lower middle order is more or less sorted, the combination is working well for us with Hardik (Pandya) and Kedar (Jadhav) and MS rotating and batting together. No 4 is something we have experimented with in the last couple of series. That is the only spot I see that needs to be solidified; otherwise the team looks pretty balanced.
“We feel the core of players is more or less sorted, it is pretty strong at the moment. It’s about who takes that one particular spot. Guys who are given the opportunity need to capitalise and really string in performances that convince the management and the team very soon that guy is meant to play at that spot.”