"India should have shifted Rahul after game one" - Daryll Cullinan questions visitors' batting strategy

Former South African batter Daryll Cullinan reckons India erred by not moving skipper KL Rahul from an opening position to the middle order after the loss in the 1st ODI. According to Cullinan, all the matches were won in the middle overs and India were not proactive enough to realize the same.

The visitors were blanked 3-0 in the ODI series, going down by 4 runs in the final match in Cape Town. Chasing 288, they were 116 for 1 at one stage but ended up getting all-out for 283.

Dissecting India’s performance in the one-day series, Cullinan told ESPN Cricinfo:

“Rahul opening though he has had success in the middle-order, in some way you can understand it. With the incumbent captain Rohit to come back, he’s then got to slip down in any case. They could have been smarter up there. The middle-order, we saw after game one, was where the game was being controlled and won. India should have realized that and shifted Rahul after game one.”

Agreeing that the Men in Blue were below par when it came to their middle order, Sanjay Manjrekar chipped in and stated that the visitors need to address the issue. He commented:

“India need a couple of middle-order batters that they can rely on. Maybe KL could be that person down the order. Keep looking at somebody in the middle. Batting at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 is very easy. It’s Nos. 4, 5 and 6 who go on to win you the game eventually. Focus on that.”

India tried out Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer in the middle order in the ODI series against South Africa but neither of them could make a significant impact.

“He cannot continue to be easy like that” - Daryll Cullinan on Dhawan’s dismissals

Opener Shikhar Dhawan was India’s top run-getter in the ODI series, scoring 169 runs in three matches at an average of 56.33. However, according to Cullinan, the veteran batter ought to have taken more responsibility. He explained:

“Dhawan’s a seasoned international player. Two fifties but soft dismissals on every occasion. Not taking the responsibility and knuckling down and saying I have got to lead them. He cannot continue to be easy like that. His tendency to carelessly hit the ball in the air, that’s not for me.”

The 36-year-old registered scores of 79, 29 and 61 in the three ODIs. However, his dismissals in the 1st and 3rd ODIs triggered batting collapses.