Opening with Ajinkya Rahane ideal for team and Rohit Sharma: MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni

Indian captain MS Dhoni has dropped a huge hint into who could open for India in the 2015 World Cup, saying that opening with Ajinkya Rahane could give the team more depth and that such a shift would mean both the players bat at their most comfortable positions.

Dhoni said: “I personally feel Ajinkya is well-suited to do the opener’s job. Even in the IPL, he opens and plays well on the most difficult wickets. He should take the responsibility of being the opener, which means Rohit can shift to the middle order.

"Ideally, it’s a place that suits both and gives us much more depth. It’s something we’ll have to wait and watch.”

Trying out options before 2015 World Cup

On the spinning options available for the mega event, the 33-year-old said: “We’ll have to see who all are there. Ravindra Jadeja is there, Axar Patel is there and he is someone who can contribute.

“We’re trying Kuldeep (Yadav) in this series, Amit Mishra is there. There are not many games, but we’ll see what we can achieve from the ODIs we have before the World Cup.”

Dhoni, while stressing that the ongoing West Indies series is as important, said that it is important to test a few players so that they reach Australia well-prepared to defend their World Championship crown.

He concluded by saying, “The most important thing will be to look to win this series, but at the same time we want to do a few things.

“We don’t want to go to Australia and say, ‘Okay, we should have done this’. We’ll try to make the most of the opportunities we’ve got to see what all the cricketers we have can offer.”