Preview by Bharat Sundaresan:
Is MS Dhoni batting a position too low in the Indian batting line-up? Is Glenn Maxwell batting a position (or two) too low in the Australian batting line-up? Two influential cricketers, two maverick performers, two larger-than-life characters, and two cricketers who, of late, have fuelled debates each time they've stepped onto a cricket field, or at times, even when they haven't.
The thing with both is that they always end up inciting strong opinions, mostly at home, but also, by extension, around the cricketing fraternity. Everyone always seems to want to pipe in with their views whenever it's an issue concerning Dhoni or Maxwell.
The major topic of deliberation over the two since the Sydney ODI has been the respective positions that they batted at. In Dhoni's case, his cautious half-century at No.5 immediately resulted in various calls for the former captain to get a promotion in the order. Rohit Sharma felt so as well, after his century dragged India briefly close but eventually catching them well short. The Indian opener, however, explicitly left it to the captain and coach to take a call. As a result, whatever anyone has to say, it will be Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri who will take the final call. At the moment, it looks unlikely that they will go with him at two-drop, where the 37-year-old actually averages 52.95 in 29 innings. However, he has batted at this position only three times in the last two years, and with little success.
It doesn't help that Dhoni's 51 off 96 at the SCG was a strange innings to judge. He walked in with the score at 4/3 - or 3/4 depending on which hemisphere you are in presently - and the need of the hour was to firstly steady the ship alongside Rohit.
He did just that.
By the time he was adjudged LBW by umpire Michael Gough, India's score read 141, and they needed 148 in 106 balls. So had Dhoni batted his team into a hole or had he batted them out of one? The verdict would vary with which side of the Dhoni debate you reside on. The conclusions drawn by the replays didn't help resolve the debate: the ball from Jason Behrendorff pitched well outside the right-hander's leg stump.
Is MS Dhoni batting a position too low in the Indian batting line-up? Is Glenn Maxwell batting a position (or two) too low in the Australian batting line-up? Two influential cricketers, two maverick performers, two larger-than-life characters, and two cricketers who, of late, have fuelled debates each time they've stepped onto a cricket field, or at times, even when they haven't.
The thing with both is that they always end up inciting strong opinions, mostly at home, but also, by extension, around the cricketing fraternity. Everyone always seems to want to pipe in with their views whenever it's an issue concerning Dhoni or Maxwell.
The major topic of deliberation over the two since the Sydney ODI has been the respective positions that they batted at. In Dhoni's case, his cautious half-century at No.5 immediately resulted in various calls for the former captain to get a promotion in the order. Rohit Sharma felt so as well, after his century dragged India briefly close but eventually catching them well short. The Indian opener, however, explicitly left it to the captain and coach to take a call. As a result, whatever anyone has to say, it will be Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri who will take the final call. At the moment, it looks unlikely that they will go with him at two-drop, where the 37-year-old actually averages 52.95 in 29 innings. However, he has batted at this position only three times in the last two years, and with little success.
It doesn't help that Dhoni's 51 off 96 at the SCG was a strange innings to judge. He walked in with the score at 4/3 - or 3/4 depending on which hemisphere you are in presently - and the need of the hour was to firstly steady the ship alongside Rohit.
He did just that.
By the time he was adjudged LBW by umpire Michael Gough, India's score read 141, and they needed 148 in 106 balls. So had Dhoni batted his team into a hole or had he batted them out of one? The verdict would vary with which side of the Dhoni debate you reside on. The conclusions drawn by the replays didn't help resolve the debate: the ball from Jason Behrendorff pitched well outside the right-hander's leg stump.