Indian cricket team has been making a conscious effort to try out new combinations to prepare a core team for the 2019 ODI World which is less than 2 years from now. In the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, India have been experimenting with new players as well as by changing the batting order.
The former Indian opener Virender Sehwag feels India should opt for experience over youth for the prestigious tournament. He reckons Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina should be included in the middle-order who can guide the team in case of crisis alongside MS Dhoni as they used to do in their peaks.
“If the top-order fails, then either of these two (Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina), batting with Dhoni, could be very useful. The youngsters need a lot of time to gain experience,” Sehwag was quoted in an interview with Times of India.
He feels that India’s A tours should be used for experimenting and not the national side. India would next play against Australia in 5 ODIs and Sehwag feels a strong side should be picked and the experimentations of the Sri Lankan tour should not be carried out there.
“The upcoming limited overs series against Australia is a very important series. It shouldn’t be used to just find a core group. Virat can certainly experiment against Sri Lanka because he knows they are not a strong team,” the explosive opener added.
Regarding the future of MS Dhoni, he said that the wicketkeeper should play the next World Cup and the selectors should give him that assurance. If a replacement for him is to be found, that should be done after 2019.
“Selectors should give Dhoni the assurance that he should be playing till the 2019 World Cup. The alternatives could be tried after the next World cup,” Virender Sehwag told.
