MS Dhoni's promotion at batting order: Quick fix ahead of long-term answer

CHENNAI: There was little room for suspense or surprise after India lost their second wicket at 106 in the 24th over chasing Bangladesh’s 173 in Friday’s Asia Cup match. But the Men in Blue did spring one, by sending in Mahendra Singh Dhoni at two down. Although he made a par-for-the-course 37-ball 33, how he fared is not the point.

There is nothing or wrong or unusual if a team keeps things flexible or changes the batting order sometimes to keep everybody in the loop. Great sides have done this from time to time and been praised for making sure that all their resources stayed in shape.

Being a member of the team who plays limited-over games only, it’s understandable if once in a while Dhoni is promoted up the order if the idea is to ensure that he stays in touch.

However, with India still looking for a suitable man at No 4 ahead of next year’s World Cup, the decision to send the former captain at a position he rarely occupied even at his prime doesn’t send right signals. Other than Ambati Rayudu, who is batting at No 3 in Virat Kohli’s absence, there are four others in the Asia Cup squad chosen as batsmen. To see a man not accustomed to a position meant for specialists walk in ahead of them can’t be encouraging for the rest.

This line of thinking also presupposes there is nobody better who could be tried out there. Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer are some of the batsmen to have played in different middle-order positions in the last two years. While it’s evident that none of them set the stage on fire, it’s also difficult to overlook that hardly any of them got a decent run. All were shunted out after one or two failures, without taking into account when they came into bat, how many balls they got to face.

Having Dhoni at No 4 leads to two immediate concerns. Taking nothing away from the player who averages 54.91 in that position, the team management has to decide if these numbers should be treated as an universal yardstick. No doubt Dhoni can adjust, but is he technically sound enough to handle the new ball if the need arises? Coming in to bat at 106/2 is different from taking charge at 20/2. In 14 years of international cricket over 324 ODIs, the best finisher has rarely been praised for his ability to handle situations a specialist batsman has to.

The other problem is about the role of the batsmen who have to bat behind Dhoni if the team management sticks to this decision. Till Thursday, they were given to understand that their job involves consolidation and holding the innings together. With Dhoni batting above them, do they now switch to a different gear and be prepared for firing from the first ball? If the answer is yes, then they have to get ready for something new with very few matches to go before the big one.

Either way, it’s not an ideal situation, which highlights the team management’s penchant to go for the quick fix instead of opting for the wiser and lengthier process of grooming players. It’s a gamble, which will be questioned if it doesn’t come off, and not leaves anything for the future if it clicks.

Atreyo@newindianexpress.com