The No. 4 dilemma is over for Team India
Suresh Raina could be blooded into the no.4 position
“Right now, the only person we have who has batted at that position for a number of matches, with any degree of success, is Yuvraj Singh. We don’t want to be in a situation where we go into the 2015 World Cup and find, for whatever reason, that Yuvraj is unavailable, and we don’t have a batsman with experience at No. 4.”
While Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the team management are busy putting their heads together to find an enduring solution for the coveted No.4 batting position, I thought of clearing it off with an explicit mathematical decision making tool – “The Decision Matrix”- by evaluating possible alternatives and determining the top contenders to fill in the place.
Before going further, I’d like to make it clear that the analysis and the inferences are completely based on the writer’s perspective. Questions and suggestions are most welcome.
Across the top of the decision matrix, the criteria, effective and imperative for the middle order positions, especially No.4, have been listed and assigned a relative ‘weight’ (keeping in mind that a ‘complete’ batsman is made at the top-middle order).
For instance, it can be very well observed that ‘Durability’ is given a weight that is twice that of ‘Hard Hitting ability’, which many of the cricket gurus would concur – when the batsman walks out at No.4, most of the times it’s either early in the innings or sometimes in the middle, hence more than redundant slogging, he must have an ability to stabilize the innings, build a solid partnership, keep the scorecard ticking and later take calculated risks.
A rating scale of 10 has been used to evaluate the cricketers against every criterion. The total is a result of the sum of products of rating given and respective weights of all criteria. The player with the highest total, gets the nod for being the best fit at No.4 at present in the national side for limited overs games. So who get’s the crown? Well let’s have a look at a few possibilities -
#1 : Captain’s knock – According to the decision matrix, it’s ‘Captain Cool’ Dhoni who knocks everyone out of contention for the role of a stabilizier. How can we forget his world cup 2011 final heroics? Promoting himself above Yuvraj, he not only led from front,but he also showed that he’s capable of playing efficiently at any position given any circumstance.
#2 : The Prince from Chandigarh – If I had to leave all the analysis aside, and conclude thoughtlessly, I’d definitely name Yuvraj Singh – the best to have ever played at that position for Team India in ODIs and he has been doing justice to it since Nairobi 2000. However, in recent years, be it severe health reasons or poor form, he has not been able to cement his position in the side. Will he be regular till the world cup? – is the big question.
#3: “It’s Raina-ing singles, but it’s just so not Raina” – The matrix shows that the third best to get the No.4 crown is Suresh Raina. The Superking, who is known for his hard hitting ability down the order and who has already earned the tag of a finisher, is being projected to be the next No.4 in Mahi’s Vision 2015. Well, only time will tell, how well Raina will fare at no.4.
#4 While Rohit Sharma looks comfortable up there and with Ravindra Jadeja happily twirling his moustache at No.7, it is less likely for the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane and Dinesh Karthik to make it to the playing XI unless injuries and form perturbs the order. But if in case it does, Pujara (perceived to be the next Rahul Dravid) and Karthik could well be in line for a chance, whereas Royal Rahane could be used up the order. Rayudu has an exceptional temperament and I’m sure he won’t mind warming the bench for a few more games before someone fails miserably.
Conclusion: If I were the captain, I would have sent myself at No.4. Jokes apart, The Decision Matrix wants the No.4 position to go the ‘Mahi’ way. However, his out-of-the box approach forces Mahi to give way to Raina and Yuvraj. Raina, in order to cope up with the expectations of his captain, will have to overcome all technical glitches and change his natural game to face the short balls from the Mitchell Johnsons and the Morne Morkels of modern day cricket. On the other hand, Yuvraj will have to make extra efforts to keep himself fit. At the end, the genius knows his players better than anyone and if he has the big picture in mind, we could see Raina play a completely different role in the forthcoming months which will let him spend more time on the crease and compile the sorts of scores that will win matches, instead of the 30s and 40s down the order that have characterised his career to this point.