The race to be India's new ODI No.5
The number 5 is a tricky position to handle in the modern day ODI cricket. At No.4 you consolidate, and at No.6 accelerate, but No.5 always has to be very flexible – with the batsman often needed to play a role mid-way between anchoring and stepping on the gas-pedal.One needs to have a stable head and sufficient imagination in order to fulfill the very transitional demands of this role. Not to mention that the Indian youngster today has players like Yuvraj Singh as the predecessor whose boots they have to fill at this position.It’s not everyone that gets blessed with the natural flair of a Yuvraj or someone like Jayawardene. With the batting order in sufficient flux, and more changes due very soon, the position in the batting order that’s been affected the most has been this: No. 5.Following is a list of likely candidates who lead the race to become permanent in this position for the Indian team.
#1 Ajinkya Rahane
In the near future, we might see the departure of MS Dhoni from the One-Day side, which means there will be more inexperience down the order.
If the new wicketkeeper-batsman is pushed up the order the best scenario would be Suresh Raina and Ajinkya Rahane alternating in the no.5 and no.6 positions, in a way that's not very dissimilar to how Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke used to alternate their positions for Australia based on whether there was a right-hander or a left-hander at the crease, in order to keep a right-left combination going.
Both have sufficient flexibility and experience in order to occupy these two positions, which would ensure India doesn’t get too top-heavy as well. When added to the fact that the rapidly improving Mumbaikar has succeeded in pretty much every position he’s played in (noticeably as No.4) although his preferred slot is the opener’s, you get an indication that he’s likely to succeed in this slot as well.
One mustn't forget of course that in Tests Rahane’s usual slot is No.5, and you have a fairly foolproof blueprint for a future middle-order.