On the eve of the first One-day International against Australia, the Indian captain MS Dhoni reveals his bowling combination. “We are most likely to play three pacers and two spinners. You have to back your strengths,” Dhoni told the media ahead of the series opener today.
Brainder Sran is likely to make an international debut after an impressive bowling in the two warm-up matches against Western Australia while Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma will lead the pace bowling line up. The spinners which will be included in the 11 are Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
The batting line up looks settled with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan opening the innings, while at number 3 Virat Kohli will walk in, followed by Rahane will bat at number 4. “My batting position will depend on the situation of the game and how the top four have performed,” Dhoni said.
India’s main problem has been a lack of genuine all rounder. Stuart Binny was given too many chances but did not grab his chance. So Rishi Dhawan could be given a chance at the number who scored lots of runs in domestic and could be useful with his medium pace bowling.
In 2014/2015 series against India lost all games to Australia. They won seven consecutive games in a row but lost to Australia in the semi-finals. But revenge is not a word for Dhoni. “Revenge is not a word that should be used in cricket. We want to compete and win games.”
It promises to be an exciting series between these two nations. Australia will be led by Steve Smith and MS Dhoni will be looking to start 2016 on a winning note.