MS Dhoni Batting At Number Four Will Be Ideal For The Team: Rohit Sharma

Jan 13, 2019 at 8:30 AM

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MS Dhoni Batting At Number Four Will Be Ideal For The Team: Rohit Sharma

High-flying India came crashing down to the earth as Australia beat them by 34 runs in the first ODI on Saturday. The momentum was firmly in India’s favour following the win in the Test series. However, the hosts came up with a fine show to get the better of the Men in Blue and go one nil up in the three-match series.

Batting first, Australia recovered from a shaky start to score a competitive 288 for 5 in the allotted 50 overs.  Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb starred with the bat, scoring fifties while Marcus Stoinis provided the finishing touches with an unbeaten 47. In reply, India rarely looked in contention to chase down the total. The visitors were off to a poor start. Even before the spectators could take their seats for the second innings, India’s innings was in tatter.  Jason Behrendorff and Jhye Richardson ran riot early on to reduce India to 4 for 3, dismissing Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu cheaply.

Australia won the first game by 34 runs(Credits: BCCI)

 

MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma then steadied the ship. With too much pressure on them, they did not go for the shots at all and just relied on occasional boundaries. However, as the innings progressed the two opened their arms and reached their consecutive fifties. But their 137-run stand ended in a disappointing manner when umpire Michael Gough gave a wrong decision to adjudge Dhoni lbw. The former India skipper departed after scoring 51 off 96 balls.

But unlike Dhoni, Rohit stayed firm and went on to score a stunning ton to keep India in chase. However, he lost partners at regular intervals. With the required rate mounting, Rohit finally departed after scoring 133 off 129 balls. India eventually ended on 254 for 9.

The 51-run knock was Dhoni’s first fifty since 2017 and came at a time when the team needed it the most. However, his usual issue of consuming too many deliveries has once again made it to the headlines. The latest knock has once again showed that Dhoni cannot be trusted with the duty of finishing he games. And Rohit feels Dhoni would best fit in at number four in the current Indian batting order.

MS Dhoni (Credits: BCCI)

“Personally always feel that Dhoni batting at number four will be ideal for the team but we have got Rayudu who has done really well now at number four. It totally depends on what the captain and coach think about it. Personally, I would be happy if Dhoni bats at four,” Rohit said.

“If you look at his overall batting strike rate its 85-90, around 90,”  Rohit said about Dhoni’s ability to hit the big shots. “But when he came out to bat today we had already lost three wickets and the guys were bowling pretty well at that point. So we had to respect that spell and we wanted to get partnerships.”

Rohit Sharma (Credits: BCCI)

 

Well, given India’s recent woes with the middle-order batsmen, they could try out Dhoni at number four. The veteran batsman enjoys a remarkable record at this batting position, having scored 1230 runs in 27 matches at an amazing average of 55.90 and a strike rate of 94.98. He has also scored one century and 11 fifties while batting at this position.

 

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