India's limiter-overs captain said he is keen to play more limited-overs matches to keep himself match-fit and the domestic tournament will be helpful in this regard
Mahendra Singh Dhoni said after Sunday's win over New Zealand that he needed more matches to get better at the No. 4 slot. He said that that he will play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Jharkhand.
With only five ODIs remaining for India before the Champions Trophy, and three T20 Internationals against England, India's limiter-overs captain said he is keen to play more limited-overs matches to keep himself match-fit and the domestic tournament will be helpful in this regard.
Dhoni's performance with the bat has been under the scanner and he scored a well-paced 80 against New Zealand after promoting himself up the batting order and coming in at No.4. India won the match by seven wickets.
When he was asked what adjustments had to make while batting at No. 4, Dhoni said, "With more and more games, I will keep getting better and better. That is what is important for me, to see the number of games available for me.
"This is a five-match series (already three finished), followed by three ODIs and three T20Is against England. That is not a lot of limited-overs cricket. I will go and play the Ranji Trophy ODIs. The more deliveries I play, the better for me.".
Dhoni, who has retired from Test cricket at the end of 2014, has been only available for limited-overs for the country. While India is in the middle of a 13-Test home season until March 2017, there is limited opportunities for Dhoni.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy for Jharkhand, which is in Group D, will be from February 25 to March 6, 2017 in Kolkata followed by the knock-outs with the final on March 18. This is after England complete their limited-overs leg of the India tour that runs from January 15 to February 1.
With Dhoni wanting more time to express himself out in the middle, he has said that he wanted to face more deliveries, and batting at No. 4 gives him that.
Out of his 244 ODI innings, Dhoni has batted 171 times at Nos. 5 and 6 while he has walked in at No. 4 on 24 occasions including on Sunday night and scored at an average of nearly 62. Seventeen matches have been won with Dhoni batting at No. 4.
Batting at two down also gives him the chance to build partnerships with arguably the best ODI player currently, Virat Kohli.
Dhoni said: "There are others who can bat at No. 4 but is there anyone who can bat at 5, 6 or 7, only time will tell. I want to play a lot of deliveries. My best chance was to go up the order and face as many deliveries as possible. I try to score at a decent pace. It gives me a chance to bat with Virat. We run between the wickets, take on the best fielders in the world. The batting slot is more for my need than the team's need," Dhoni said.
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