Ajinkya Rahane should replace Suresh Raina for World T20 semi-final: Former India selector

Buoyed by Virat Kohli’s 82 off 51 balls, the Indian national cricket team eased past Australia to secure a World T20 semi-final berth. However, there have been several questions raised over the batting line-up’s poor form so far.

Former India East Zone selector Pranab Roy believes that it’s about time Ajinkya Rahane is introduced to the first team. He told Sportskeeda, “I know the opening pair has not fired yet, but the pitches they’re playing on are also very ordinary. Hence, I don’t see why Dhoni should change that as of now. I do feel Rahane should replace Suresh Raina for the next game, as the latter has only been useful with the ball. The Wankhede pitch is flat and will offer nothing in form of turn, it’s about time Rahane is given a chance.”

Raina has scored only 41 in his last four innings, including a golden duck against arch rivals Pakistan. That being said, both Dhawan, Sharma have notched up only 43 and 45 runs respectively.

Roy added, “The previous four matches India has played on are ranked turners, hence we shouldn’t look into it so much also. Even other countries have not been able to score run. But, keeping that in mind, it doesn’t make sense why curators have not made batting friendly pitches. This also exposes the fact that, apart from Virat Kohli every other batsman is failing to play spin properly.”

Surprised Harbhajan Singh wasn’t given a chance on spin-friendly wickets: Roy

Dhoni has stuck with the same team, since the beginning of the tournament, highlighting his reluctance to chop and change within a side. Roy said, “Dhoni is not the one to keep changing his squad, so I don’t think there will be major changes. But I was really surprised when Harbhajan wasn’t introduced. Hardik Pandya is an average medium pacer at best, and a good fielder, but on pitches such as Nagpur and Kolkata, Bhajji’s experience was vital. Don’t know why they didn’t have a look at him.”

During his time as East Zone selector, Roy first spotted a young Dhoni playing for Bihar. He was quick to underline Captain Cool’s temperamental growth. He said, “Dhoni has one of the best understanding of the game, if you look at previous captains, no one was as decisive and successful with his mid-match changes. Even in the Bangladesh game, no wicket-keeper in the world would take of the gloves and run for that.”

Speaking about India’s chances against West Indies in the semi-final at Wankhede, Roy was optimistic about a high scoring match. He said, “Even if Gayle score a century, India will have enough batting firepower to match it. The track is very batting friendly, and will give others apart from Kohli to showcase their talent.”