4 experiments by MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten before 2011 World Cup which had failed
The Indian team management received a lot of criticism for resting Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the last two ODIs of the series against West Indies before the World Cup. With the Asia Cup and the World Cup (WC) set to take place soon, fans expected Sharma and Kohli to score heaps of runs against the West Indies and enter the two mega events in top form.
However, Virat Kohli did not bat even once in the three ODIs, while Rohit Sharma batted at number seven in the first ODI and took rest in the other two games. Fans slammed India for experimenting too much in the ODIs against West Indies because the World Cup is fast approaching.
Fans should note that India experimented a lot before the 2011 Cricket World Cup as well, which they ended up winning. Here's a list of five things the-then captain and coach MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten did which did not help India at all.
#1 Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel opened the batting in a series decider for India in their last ODI match before 2011 World Cup
While the Indian team is still scheduled to play a lot of ODIs before the 2023 World Cup, MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten tried out Rohit Sharma and Parthiv Patel as openers in the series decider against South Africa in 2011 before the mega event. The series stood at 2-2.
Neither Rohit nor Patel impressed. None of the two batters made it to the final WC squad. The team management had rested Gautam Gambhir, who got hurt in the Tests, while Virender Sehwag was injured as well. Sachin Tendulkar was rested in the last ODI before the WC in 2011.
#2 Murali Vijay as the backup opener
Murali Vijay opened the batting for India in three of the five ODIs against South Africa in 2011 before the WC. The right-handed batter failed to make any impact in those three games and was subsequently dropped from the squad.
When Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan got a place in the Indian playing XI against West Indies, several fans slammed the Indian team management. They should not forget that the team management did the same in 2011 as well.
#3 Yuvraj Singh at the number four position
India's batting lineup in the 2011 World Cup started with Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Gautam Gambhir batted at number three, followed by Virat Kohli at four. Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni completed the middle-order.
In the last series before the WC 2011, MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten picked Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Parthiv Patel, and Sachin Tendulkar as openers.
Virat Kohli batted at number three, while Yuvraj Singh was the number four batter. Singh failed in the majority of the games at number four, but when he played at number five and six in the World Cup, he emerged as the biggest match-winner for the nation.
#4 The number 3 batting position
As mentioned earlier, Gautam Gambhir batted at number three for India in the 2011 WC. He smacked three half-centuries in the mega event, including a match-winning 97 in the final.
Not many fans would know that Gambhir scored 150* while batting at number three in a match against Sri Lanka in December 2009, and then, he directly batted at number three in the World Cup.
In 2010 and early 2011, MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten tried Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik at number three. Karthik even opened the innings in a few matches.
The Indian team management made a lot of changes to the batting lineup for the 2011 WC because quite a few experiments failed. India still ended up winning the mega event.
Hence, fans should not lose their cool over the fact that Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma experimented with their batting lineup against the West Indies.