India vs Australia: Virat Kohli says Ajinkya Rahane may open innings with Rohit Sharma in Chennai ODI

Virat Kohli has hinted at inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane at the top of the order in the absence of regular opener Shikhar Dhawan, who was granted leave to attend to his unwell wife. Rahane, who was in a superb form in the West Indies earlier this year, is likely to open the innings with Rohit Sharma in the first ODI against Australia in Chennai on Sunday.

In the recent series against Sri Lanka, Rahane was benched for the first four matches while KL Rahul was tried in the middle order. Rahul, who is a natural opener, struggled to get going in the four matches he played and just managed to score 28 runs in three innings at 9.33.

"If you look to bat in a particular position in all the formats, then it can get really difficult for the team to find the right kind of balance in including that player. So the player needs to adapt to what the team requirement is more often. I've opened in T20 cricket and I would do that any day if a guy is there in the middle order who is going to strengthen the middle order. So I should be flexible enough to do that or in one-day cricket as well. I've batted at 4 and top of the order as well. I think it's up to the player to get versatile in a manner that he can take different positions in what the team requires him to do. It takes time," Kohli said on the eve of the series opener.

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Kohli admitted switching batting positions is not easy and takes time and back Rahul to overcome the problems.

"I'm not saying it's easy because if you see Ajinkya Rahane as well, he's played in the middle order in ODI cricket, he plays in the middle order in Test matches and then he has opened a lot in ODIs as well. So, he also felt that he found it difficult to switch. So now we are backing Rahane at the top of the order so that he knows, his plans are clear."

"KL is an outstanding talent, he has proved himself in all the formats and he is someone who needs to be backed because we believe that he has the ability once he gets his role done then he'll start winning you games...we are very sure of that," he said.

BOWLING ALL-ROUNDERS

Kohli also indicated that the Team India may include three front-line bowlers and two all-rounders.

"Could be. Things are heading that way. You need depth in batting and bowling and I think those two all-rounders provide the kind of balance we need. The likes of Hardik or Axar in the team or Jadeja. We need to identify two of those guys for your side to have more strength in both the departments and that's something that all the sides around the world are going to move towards because of the strength it gives you in both the departments. Along with the guy being a top fielder as well. That's very very important. You need a proper all-rounder. Not just a bowling or batting all-rounder. That's something we have been focused on and that has paid dividends to us in the last series as well and we'll look to continue with it," he added.

WRIST SPINNERS

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India have two wrist spinners in the 16-member squad for the first three of the five ODIs.

"It's a great advantage to have two wrist spinners in your team and especially then when both are so different from each other and both can pick up wickets in the middle overs. That is the most important thing in one-day cricket because you can have as many dot balls as you want but if you don't' pick up wickets, you can go 12 in an over as well for a 10-12 over period. So I think it's great picking up wickets and having breakthroughs throughout and those two guys have provided that to us and they are very confident coming into the series. They are in a zone where they don't mind getting hit as long as they pick up 3-4 wickets and I think it's a very good space to be in and it gives me as a captain a lot of confidence," he said.

PLAYING FOR RECORDS?

"I don't play for the three-figure mark and maybe that's why I end up crossing it more times because I am not thinking about it. I don't' put myself under pressure thinking to achieve a landmark. For me it's most important to win the game for the team. I've said before that even if I am 98 or 99 not out, I don't mind...as long as we win the game. In that process things happen because you want to stay till the end and if you have enough runs on the board, you end up achieving those landmark because you're not thinking about the end result, not about you reaching a landmark. My motivation has never been that, it will never be that. Whatever time I play, I will never think of that because it doesn't come to me naturally. For me it's how I can help the team win with the bat, in the field, giving my 120% for the team and preparing accordingly. That according to me is more important for me than achieving a personal landmark," he said.