5 instances when Indian batsmen played for a spot on the team

Batsmen head out to the crease with a two-fold purpose. To score runs and avoid getting out. Sometimes circumstances demand that one of those concerns outweigh the other. If a team is chasing a high score and overs are scarce, a batsman is expected to allow the importance of scoring runs outweigh the risks of getting out. That is what the team requires at that point, a slight reckless abandon in batting. Sometimes though the batsman allows concerns of holding a spot on the team influence his style, and lets staying on the crease take precedence above all else. Here are five instances when Indian batsmen set out to bat playing for a spot in the team:

#1 Venugopal Rao

India faced Pakistan in the 1st ODI of the DLF Cup on 18 April 2006 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi. Venugopal Rao scored 61 runs off 93 balls. This was his first career half century in ODIs. He sustained a partnership with Suresh Raina who had 40 runs to help India get to 197 runs. The duo maintained a 64 run partnership.

He did end up keeping his place in the ODI series in the West Indies. While his play helped India run up the score, it came at a cost of overs. India lost the match by 6 wickets as Pakistan chased India’s total of 197 runs and scored 201 runs.

India did level the series in the next ODI as they set a target of 269 runs while losing 5 wickets. Pakistan were all out at 218 in 45.2.