Will Dhoni leave it till the end again?

13 needed from 6 deliveries and you see Dhoni and Yuvraj batting; you not only think that it will be a good win but a stylish one. Dhoni has made it a habit to finish things in style but the fairy tale for Yuvraj didn’t turn out to be a fairytale. Yes, Dhoni took it too far till the end as usual and the move backfired (for once). But the ultimate thing that I think that Dhoni missed out was the opening combination. The fans expected that it would be a Gambhir-Sehwag opening combination and it would have been a routine T20 start for India. But “injury” forced Sehwag to sit out of the game which made Kohli come up the order. Kohli was the immediate choice to open the innings instead of Sehwag but the move could turn out to be more than just a temporary replacement. We all know that Dhoni is not a routine captain; a cricketing mind like him is definitely not a routine thing in Indian cricket. Remember just a week back, he gave the first over to a spinner against New Zealand in the second Test? He is the same captain who started the trend of bringing on the spinner in the first over in Indian Test cricket. Coming back to the opening combination, it could well turn out to be a blessing in disguise as the combination of Gambhir-Kohli would give India a steady start and just the thing which Gambhir and Sehwag have not been able to provide in the recent times. The way Virat Kohli is playing, it seems as if he is playing in the nets rather than on the field and not only is he in the form of his life but he is making all the shots in the book look ridiculously easy. He and Gautam Gambhir can provide the steady start India are looking for in the coming World Cup.

But the question is “Is Dhoni smart enough to realize that it was a smart move and not just another make shift move”? Because this move could just be the strategy and the X-factor in India’s World Cup campaign. But now that he has unleashed the new pair of Gambhir and Kohli, it is also possible that he may have missed a trick. He could have kept that pair for the World Cup and surprise the opposition but he decided to play them versus New Zealand. We all know that India has a class batting line up and that is the reason the likes of Raina, Irfan, Yuvraj and Rohit are always a easy selection and that is the reason we have the same bunch of players from the last four editions of the T20 World Cups. We know that once India have a steady start, then the opposition is in trouble because the hitters keep on coming till number eight. When it comes to chasing scores, India have some of the best in that department too with Gambhir , Kohli and Dhoni playing a key role in many successful ODI run chases. So when Gambhir and Kohli come in together as a opening combination, we know that they will keep the run rate steady and play their shots and the captain can also rely on making a strategy with the rest of the players. With Gambhir and Sehwag batting, you know that when they fire, its game-set-match-India but when they get out early, India has a problem and the hitters are unleashed very early in the innings and a collapse is always a possibility. Virat Kohli can keep things pretty steady and he doesn’t throw his wicket away (unlike Sehwag). Many good players like Adam Gilchrist, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan have batted in the middle order before being promoted to the opening slot in the one day format and have dominated the attacks all over the world.Mahela Jayawardane is a perfect example of this situation because he is currently leading from the front by opening the batting for Sri Lanka and with Dilshan, they are setting up a strong platform at the start, a strategy very underrated in T20 cricket in comparison to the big six hitting in the end.

And Virat is on his way to bigger things and opening the batting might just be the thing for him. Remember he made his debut by opening the innings against Sri Lanka in August 2008. Back then he got dropped because of a few low scores. But he made a strong comeback in the ODI format by being the highest scorer in the year for India for the last 2 years. Yes, he played in the middle order when he got all those runs but it’s time to shift him up the order and give him some time. He showed good composure in the T20 against New Zealand with a well composed 70, but he got out to a wonderful running low catch by Tim Southee at long off. He was on his way to a hundred, a successful chase and a not out. Three things he has made a habit of doing in recent times.

The strategy of opening with Gambhir and Kohli could be the thing to watch out for in the upcoming World Cup as they have got the experience as well as the shots in the book to take on the 11 different bowling attacks in the competition. That is why the warm up games against Pakistan and Sri Lanka before the ICC World T20 will be crucial to see whether Dhoni goes with the make shift duo and surprise the world (like he always does) or will he take it till the end of the competition like he always does?