Press trust of India
Dharamsala, Oct 1: India’s limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Thursday that the search is still on for a potent cricketer, who can fit into the role of a seam bowling all-rounder that will help getting the team combination right.
“We have four spinners (Ravi Ashwin, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra and Axar Patel) and three proper seamers (Mohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Sreenath Aravind) and a seamer all-rounder (Stuart Binny),” Dhoni said at the pre-match conference.
“So it gives you that luxury of going with the right combination, depending on the scenario. Also you have to see strength of the team. Like if we go with two spinners one of them has to be a better batsman. We don’t have a seamer all-rounder, who can give us four overs in a T20 game or for that matter 10 overs in a 50-over game and also bat as well. So we have to keep all these factors (in mind),” Dhoni added.
The skipper also kept cards close to his chest as to whether he would bat up the order or not. “I would love to. We have to see the composition of the side, who is best suited to bat at what position,” Dhoni pointed out.
Asked if Suresh Raina could take over the mantle of an ideal finisher, a job that he has performed remarkably in the earlier years, Dhoni replied in the negative.
“Raina is not a finisher. We play more T20s and have more statistics from IPL than T20 Internationals. He is somebody who has batted at No 3 in most of the matches as that suits him and also benefits the side,” the Indian skipper asserted.
