Chennai: Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma hinted Friday that Ajinkya Rahane could be the one replacing his regular opening partner Shikhar Dhawan, who will miss the first three ODIs against Australia due to personal reasons. The first game of the five-match ODI series takes place here Sunday.
“We have great bench strength. Of course, the absence of Shikhar will be felt. The kind of form he was in of late, he had a big role to play in the team’s success. But, we have got a few guys to replace him,” Rohit said.
“Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane’s nickname) is one of them. He had a great run in the West Indies and won the man of the series award. He can come and take up that (opener’s) role any time,” Rohit added.
Rohit also pointed out that in spite of a different opening partner, his gameplan would still be to assess the conditions and give the team a good start. “The partner doesn’t matter, to be honest. It’s what the conditions have to offer. At the end of the day you have to give your team a good start,” Rohit pointed out.
To a question on the role of KL Rahul, who played in the middle-order in Sri Lanka but started as an opener, Rohit said there is no ambiguity on his position.
“I think both the coach and captain have clearly spoken about roles each individual had to play. Before the start of Sri Lanka ODI matches, the captain said he is looking at KL (Rahul) as a No.4 batsman,” Rohit said. “You will have to play according to the team dynamics, whatever the team requires. That’s how I became an opener,” he explained.
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