MS Dhoni hints at playing Ajinkya Rahane at number 5 in the World Cup

MS Dhoni

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that he is still unsure about the bowling combination that will take the field during India’s opening World Cup game against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday. The Indians registered their first win since landing in Australia on Tuesday, after defeating Afghanistan by 153 runs in a warm-up game.

Dhoni unsure of bowling combination

"We'll have to wait and watch, depending on conditions and the kind of wickets offered,” Dhoni said after the game.

The 33-year-old said that he wanted his 2 spinners – Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja – to bowl their full quota of 10 overs and also revealed that he intended to use just 5 bowlers during the game.

"I wanted Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin to bowl their 10 overs, but I just wanted to use five bowlers in this game, and I needed Suresh Raina. It's heartening to see Jadeja bowling 10 overs, and he's also batting well. He's been bowling and batting a lot at the nets," he said.

Rahane at number 5?

The Ranchi-born cricketer also expressed his happiness over the general performance of the team in the game, adding that the batsmen got some practice in the middle and bowlers also recovered well after a wayward start. However, he did say that he wasn’t a big fan of warm-up matches.

"Overall, it has been quite a good match. We had big partnerships while batting with Rohit, Raina and Rahane coming good. In bowling also, after 4-5 overs we bowled really well and also got some reverse swing.

“I'm not a big fan of practice games, but a bit more time in the middle does help,” the wicketkeeper-batsman said.

Dhoni also emphasized the importance of Ajinkya Rahane to the team, saying that the number 5 position is an important slot in the 50-over game.

"Rahane is crucial for us. If you see the history of Indian ODI cricket, number five has been really crucial," he concluded.