Rohit Sharma’s deputy trains with the team on the eve of the second ODI having returned from a personal engagement, but who will he replace?
KL Rahul during a training session yesterday. Pic/AFP
India ticked all the boxes in their six-wicket win over the West Indies on Sunday, but they now have a selection headache to deal with ahead of the second ODI at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday. Skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid are clearly faced with a problem of plenty. Who should they drop to accommodate vice-captain KL Rahul, who had opted out of the first ODI to attend his sister’s wedding?
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Rahul and another opener, Mayank Agarwal, who was in a mandatory three-day quarantine, practised with the team on Tuesday and are both available for selection for the second ODI. Suryakumar Yadav was understandably clueless when he was asked about this at the virtual media interaction. “Wrong department. You have asked the question to the wrong person,” Suryakumar said with a smile.
“They [Rahul and Agarwal] were seen in training and I’m sure that they coming back in the squad after quarantine makes our unit really stronger. But at the end of the day, it’s the team management’s call on who is going to play and who is not going to play,” he added. Rahul, being the team’s vice-captain, is likely to walk into the playing XI, but the question is who will he replace?
Chasing just 177 in the first match, Ishan Kishan had given good support to Rohit’s aggressive 60 in their 84-run opening stand. He also provides a good left-right opening combination, so he deserves a second chance. Also, though Rahul has opened the innings 21 times in his 40 ODI appearances, his stats as a No.5 batsman are far more impressive. In the middle-order, he averages 56.63 with a strike rate of 113.82. As an opener, he has scored at an average of 46.53 with a strike rate of 80.58.
So, to accommodate Rahul in the middle, the team management will have to drop Deepak Hooda, who steadied the innings with an unbeaten 26 after India lost four wickets for 30 runs within a space of 21 balls in the opening one-dayer.
Hooda is also a handy bowler, but Suryakumar is equally keen to fill in as a sixth bowler. “Whenever I get an opportunity, I will bowl. I regularly bowl in the nets, always available to bowl,” he said. Hooda was not called upon to bowl in the first ODI as the Windies were bundled out in 43.5 overs. So, will he have to make way for Rohit’s deputy or Ishan will have to warm the bench? Selection headaches are always a tricky proposition.
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