While MS Dhoni will play his 300th ODI match, Virat Kohli can try some new faces in the remaining two ODIs.
An unassailable 3-0 lead, the five-match series in the bag and India are comfortably placed to experiment with their playing XIs in the two dead rubbers, to be played at the R Premadasa Stadium on Thursday and Sunday. Nothing is certain yet and the team management might continue with the winning combination. But going by the practice sessions over the last two days, there appears a possibility of some tinkering, inclusion of two-three new faces in the form of Manish Pandey, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur.
Kedar Jadhav is a vital cog in the Indian wheel in terms of striking the balance, thanks to his part-time low-arm spin that has had an uncanny habit of breaking partnerships. But after making 1 and 0 in the last two ODIs, coming at No. 4 and No. 5 respectively, the team management might want to have a look at Pandey, who came here on the heels of some excellent batting performances for India ‘A’ in South Africa. Captain Kohli had earlier said Jadhav, Pandey and KL Rahul would have to contest for the two places in the middle-order.
Yadav made his ODI debut in the West Indies in June and returned with eight wickets from five matches. He was overlooked for the first three ODIs as the team wanted a left-right combination in Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal. But with an eye on grooming wrist spinners in the run-up to the 2019 World Cup, opportunities might beckon for the young chinaman bowler.
Shardul Thakur had been part of the Test team set-up before. In the ODI squad, it could be challenge for him to make a smooth transition to white-ball cricket. His bowling style is considered to be more suitable to the longer format.
“In white-ball cricket, you will need to use a lot of variations, when needed. Where as in red-ball cricket you just stick to your plans again and again. You have to keep bowling your stock deliveries. It’s more about patience there. That’s the difference,” the Mumbai seamer said. Thakur has been pretty lively in the nets, even bowling bouncers to Kohli.
MS Dhoni to play his 300th ODI for India. (Source: PTI)
Dhoni’s 300th
MS Dhoni, fresh from his back-to-back match-winning efforts will play his 300th ODI today (Thursday). The country’s greatest-ever limited-overs captain came to this series with question marks hanging over his finishing prowess. In the two matches at Pallekele, Dhoni has shown finishing skills of different kinds – 45 not and 67 not out under pressure. Dhoni will join an elite 300 club that already has Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mohammad Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh as its members.
