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India vs England, 1st ODI: Did Virat Kohli demote MS Dhoni? Yuvraj Singh batting position highlights point

Most of the cricket fans expected that MS Dhoni will come out to bat at no.4 when India were reduced to 24/2, as paceman David Willey removed both the Indian openers.

Did Virat Kohli demote MS Dhoni to promote Yuvraj Singh ? (Reuters)
Did Virat Kohli demote MS Dhoni to promote Yuvraj Singh ? (Reuters)

India defeated England in the 1st ODI at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) stadium in Pune by 3 wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series. Match-winning centuries by captain Virat Kohli (122) and Kedar Jadhav (120) took India out of danger, when they were 63/4 at one point of time. It was a memorable match for Team India as the Virat era began with this memorable win. Virat Kohli, the batsman wasn’t a bit different when he came out to bat at his usual position no.3. However, what has become a talking point within the cricketing fraternity as MS Dhoni seems to have demoted his previous skipper to below Yuvraj Singh.

Most of the cricket fans expected that MS Dhoni will come out to bat at no.4 when India were reduced to 24/2, as paceman David Willey removed both the Indian openers. However, it wasn’t Dhoni who turned out to bat at no.4 but it was the comeback veteran Yuvraj Singh who walked into the park. Perhaps, for the new captain, a left-right hand combination would have caused some worries for the English bowlers. However, as things turned out, the old war horses Yuvraj Singh as well as MS Dhoni (coming at no.5) couldn’t influence with the bat much as both were dismissed for 15 and 6 respectively. So, was Virat Kohli trying to protect the key wicket of MS Dhoni and let Yuvraj Singh to bat at his old position of no.4; as he has been amongst runs off late with the bat?

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As far as fitness issues are concerned, both Yuvraj and Dhoni are very fit as batsman and their respective roles as fielder/bowler and wicket-keeper; at the age of 35! But the matter of fact is that Yuvraj had played Ranji Trophy for Punjab and had been amongst runs, topping the batsman chart for Punjab with 672 runs from 8 matches. On the other hand, Dhoni has maintained his fitness, hitting the gym regularly but didn’t play any competitive cricket, until the first practice game that was played on January 10.

The issue is bound to get heated up as the batting positions become a talking point during and after the England ODI series.

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First published on: 16-01-2017 at 13:59 IST
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