Birmingham: The new ODI rules and the conditions in England will force India to go in with five specialist bowlers in the upcoming Champions Trophy, according to captain MS Dhoni, who reckons all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will play a key role.
“Conditions are very different compared to sub-continent. We have to look at the composition of the side and see what kind of bowlers we use but the conditions and the new rule forces us to play with five bowlers,” Dhoni said at the pre-tournament press conference here.
“Jadeja gives us the balance that we really need. He is a great asset to have with his 10 overs of spin bowling and batting down the order,” Dhoni said.
“We are hoping Jadeja fires or else we have a few others,” he added.
Rohit Sharma was promoted to open the innings during the ODI series against England at home but the skipper indicated that Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan will start off in the tournament.
“It’s good to have Shikhar and Vijay back in the side. They both scored runs in Test matches against a good side. Vijay had a decent IPL whereas Shikhar did well after coming back from injury. It’s always better to start off with two proper openers. Rohit will be the back-up option while I consider Dinesh as a specialist middle-order batsman,” he explained.
India will be playing outside the sub-continent for the first time since the new rules have been implemented and Dhoni is a touch worried.
“We have to see what kind of squad we have got. How quickly the players adapt. We have to plan the composition of our squad depending on the talent that we have. As of now, no one has got niggles and it’s always important to have full squad fit so that you are not forced to field your second XI.”
Terming Champions Trophy “tough”, Dhoni stated that since the advent of Twenty20, it has been a real challenge for the teams to juggle all formats. (PTI)