While the selectors have ignored senior batsmen Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina in order to give chances to the youngsters with an eye on the future, especially the 2019 World Cup, the former India opener Virender Sehwag feels the presence of experienced batsmen will ‘add more teeth to the batting’.
Yuvraj has been dropped or according to the selectors rested for the ongoing series in Sri Lanka after a string of poor performances while Raina is yet to get a recall from the ODI team since the New Zealand series last year when he was in the squad but could not play a single game due to illness. As a result, the onus has been put on the likes of KL Rahul, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav to shoulder the responsibility in the middle-order.
However, Manish Pandey is yet to get a game in the series, Rahul and Kedar have failed to impress so far.
Sehwag said that Kedar and Manish need to play 100 ODIs in order to get experience for the next World Cup before suggesting that Raina and Yuvraj can end India’s middle-order woes.
“Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey are relatively inexperienced. If they have to play the World Cup, they have to play 100 ODIs before the tournament. Raina and Yuvraj in the middle order will add more teeth to the batting,” Sehwag told India Today.
The swashbuckling opener also urged everyone to refrain from judging MS Dhoni due to his changed approach in batting. The former India skipper once again underlined his importance by playing two match-winning knocks against Sri Lanka but has been criticised for not batting in aggressively that he used to do a few years ago.
“You cannot judge a player on the basis of one match. A player cannot perform the way he did in his younger days. Every player goes through that phase. When needed, Dhoni’s experience will come in handy,” Sehwag said.