Why Virat Kohli should prefer Rayudu and Pandey over Rahul and Pant in the ODIs against West Indies
Both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are rated very highly as batsmen by Virat Kohli and Co. The team management has solidly stood behind a faltering Rahul like a rock and has backed him to come good, even after a string of failures, especially in the longer format of the game. They believe Rahul has it in him to serve Indian cricket well for a long time.
Similarly, Rishabh Pant seems to have convinced everyone, including the selectors and team management, of his talent and temperament, as a gifted batsman who could single-handedly win India matches. He is seen as a long-replacement for MS Dhoni in all forms of the game.
In the upcoming ODI series against West Indies, there could be a strong temptation for Virat Kohli to include both these batsmen in the playing XI. They are exactly the kind of players that Kohli has a clear preference for – attacking batsman who are not afraid to play their shots – the kind of batsmen who take after their captain.
But if the Indian think tank decide to play them, they will have to do so in place of Ambati Rayudu and Manish Pandey. Neither batsman is overly attacking, even though they both possess an array of exciting shots themselves. However, they both usually prefer solidity over showmanship.
In this year’s Asia Cup, aptain Rohit Sharma had decided to play Rayudu in all the matches, in place of Rahul, despite mounting pressure on him from all quarters to play Rahul. But Rayudu justified Rohit’s selection by his consistent performances throughout the tournament.
There is no reason why Kohli should change a winning template, in which Rayudu has proved that he can be a vital cog.
Manish Pandey has had a chequered career. He has been seen as one with a lot of potential for a very long time, but he has not been able to fulfil that potential the way himself or Indian cricket fans had expected of him. But a closer look at his career would show that he has not done that badly either.
He has not had many opportunities to play for India even though he has been a part of the larger squad a lot of time, including in the Asia Cup this year. He largely spent the tournament on the bench, but he still managed to contribute to India’s cause through his outstanding performances as a fielder many times, even as a substitute.
He is already 29 years old, but he has played only 23 matches, in which his batting average is about 37, which is not too shabby. With more opportunities, he could have had a chance to possibly better this average.
It would be unfair to prefer Rahul over Pandey, because Rahul is coming off a string of failures, including on Indian soil against the not-so-threatening West Indian attack. Rahul also has played only ten ODIs and has an average of about 35, which is lower than that of Pandey.
Similarly, to select Pant just after some good performances at the beginning of his international career would be grossly unfair to the much more experienced players whose place he could take, such as Pandey and Rayudu, who have been toiling hard in the domestic circuit, as well as at international level, for more than a decade.