Kapil Dev wants MS Dhoni to bat at No.4 in Champions Trophy

Team India will be gearing up for the upcoming Champions Trophy in England and Wales where they would start as the defending champions. The only difference will be that MS Dhoni won’t be the captain of the side, instead, it will the young and charismatic Virat Kohli who lead the Men in Blue in their title defence but he will have Dhoni in the team to assist him.

Ever since Kohli took over the reign from Dhoni, we have seen the wicket-keeper batsman bat mostly at No.5 position. His promotion up the order also helped him to smash a sensation 122 balls 134 against England in the 2nd ODI of the 3 match ODI series recently. Even in this IPL, he has played some gem of an innings despite not being consistent enough. Especially in the Qualifier 1 against the Mumbai Indians, he started off pretty slowly but he pressed on the accelerator at the correct time by remaining unbeaten of 40 of 26 deliveries. The innings also ensured Pune reached a challenging total.

Dhoni should be promoted up the order

Former India World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev is of the opinion that Dhoni should bat at No.4 in the Champions Trophy. He conceded that though he is not the same old Dhoni 8 years back but still his experience will come in handy in the middle order. “Dhoni may not be the Dhoni of eight years back, but he is still the most experienced player in the Indian side, and how they use him will be critical. Virat Kohli should be very happy to have him in the side.

“I think he needs to play a few balls before settling down. If he can bat up in the order, at No 4 maybe, it will give him time to settle. At the end of the innings he is absolutely lethal against any bowling,” Kapil was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times. Dhoni went hammers and tongs in the last couple of overs smashing two specialist death over bowlers Mitchell McCleneghan and Jasprit Bumrah for 4 sixes.  “It was important for them to know that he is still the ‘king of the ground’,” said Kapil while highlighting on Dhoni’s impact.

India has a better side than Pakistan

India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening clash of the Champions Trophy on 4th June. Kapil who has been a part of many memorable Indo-Pak clashes said that In the last 15-20 years, India has fielded a far better side than Pakistan on more occasions than not.

“In the 80s, they had a better side without a doubt. But in the last 15-20 years, we have fielded a comparatively better team than Pakistan. But Pakistan has nothing to lose. I feel like when you (Pakistan) are the underdog, you are a much bigger threat to the opposition,” he concluded.