Team India: Put Batting Order in Order

There has been an intense debate going on as to who should come at number 6 position for Team India. The choice ranges from VVS Laxman to Rohit Sharma and from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli amidst talks about Yuvraj Singh's form and fitness and Suresh Raina's technical flaws. But, first of the team management needs to think why does this position be thought of so much importance when cricket is about scoring runs and taking wickets. In short, every wicket is equally important for the team's cause. If your top five score runs at a healthy average in each innings you don't really bother about the performance of the player coming at number six. After all he is the sixth choice of your batting order depending upon his ability and experience to contribute to team's fortune.

If the top five fail, one cann't really expect that the number six will wear a magic wand to take the falling fortunes of the team to safety. This takes us back to the golden rule of the game of cricket that after the openers order of the batsmen should be decided on the rigorous parameters of batting. That is, the best batsman in the condition should come at number three. This man should also be the most perfect batsman technically. He should be followed by a more balanced batsman at number four, then the next best should come at number five and then the number six should be considered. The number six can not be the Man Friday of any team. His ability may add value to the team but he can not be expected to anchor the ship and become a sailor when ship is off the hook.

The cricketing logic says that the batsmen coming in the order of their form and ability would be best for a team. Team India goes through troubled times only when this logic is broken either by the dip in form of the batsmen fixed for the spot or due to the choice of wrong batsman for a position. At this juncture of its journey, Team India is poised with the presence of heavily experienced and overtly talented youngsters. If Team India prefers to look for a secured future then, it should disturbed the 'age-old' batting order by shuffling Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar a bit. If Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the ones to succeed the two legends, one of them should be asked to come ahead of Dravid and the other ahead of Sachin Tendulkar to make sure that the two prodigious talent bat for the maximum length with the legendary talents.

VVS Laxman, on his part, seems to have gone past his prime and looks to be suffering from Ganguly syndrome. He is not sure of his batting prowess and mental techniques. For a team willing to go through a smooth transition, MS Dhoni should come ahead of Laxman, who may take it as a challenge and get back to his rhythm. So, the batting order after openers, should be something like this Virat Kohli/Rahul Sharma, Rahul Dravid, Kohli/Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni and then the tailenders. This order at the expense of VVS Laxman, which seems unlikely. So, if only one of Kohli or Sharma could be given place in the playing 11, they could be rotated till one of them starts showing consistency. And, if Yuvraj gets fit, he can replace Laxman if selectors does not get overwhelmed by the reputation of the Very Very Special batsman, who has written scripted so many victories for an emergent Team India. Yuvraj with his improved sense of bowling can fill the place of number seven test batsman provided MS Dhoni takes his own batting more seriously in the longer version. Moreover, sooner or later, the selectors will also have to find a place for Suresh Raina. He can not wait for too long.