5 reasons why MS Dhoni should not bat at No. 7

Square pegs in round holes

Dhoni needs to be allowed to play to his strengths

A lot of Indian fans were baffled by the decision to promote Hardik Pandya to no. 4 and send in Dhoni at no. 7. Pandya was originally supposed to develop into a finisher and take over the mantle from Dhoni.

And in modern cricket where every role needs the right cricketer, Pandya is the one to groom for the future. Sending him in as a pinch-hitter might work at times but if he plays a normal run-a-ball innings at no. 4 and gets out before the death, his abilities are wasted.

In the 4th ODI, India, at one stage, needed 60-odd runs to win from eight overs. Yet, they faltered thanks to some great death bowling from the Aussies and some poor decision-making by the Indian think-tank when it came to the batting order.

With their current best chaser Virat Kohli back in the pavilion, Dhoni was the man they needed to anchor the chase in the middle overs. And someone like Hardik in the last eight overs could have been the ideal candidate to take India home.

Instead, Hardik was wasted with a sedate middle-order batsman’s knock while Dhoni, who was asked to swing his bat as soon as he came in, looked completely out of sorts.

Ravi Shastri, the Indian coach, often mentioned the phrase ‘horses for courses’ during his stint as a commentator. Having Dhoni at no. 7 and Hardik at no. 4 is like asking an astronaut and a pilot to swap professions.