India relying heavily on Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli, says Mohinder Amarnath

Former selector and 1983-World Cup winning member Mohinder Amarnath feels that the Indian batting is overly reliant on Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli.

In his column for Times of India, Amarnath wrote, “This has not been one of India’s best performances, so far in the tri-series. The Indian batting is relying heavily on Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli. The latter, who can carry the team on a good day, hasn’t really fired in these last two games and the Indians have struggled to have a good total on the board.”

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Amarnath did not approve of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Stuart Binny opening the bowling for India.

“Things will probably not go well when you open the bowling with Stuart Binny and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvneshwar has not been in the best of form, so there’s been no real pressure on the opponent as such. Unless they get an early breakthrough or turn on the pressure, things are not going to work for India in the next two games.”

He added that the bowling has been a worry for the Indian team too.

“Not just the batting, but the bowling has also been a worry because the pacers were not applying the pressure and weren’t providing early breakthroughs for the team, which didn’t allow India to really fight back. I was expecting India to do well against England but they faltered in the batting.”

Speaking about Ishant Sharma, Amarnath said, “News is that Ishant has been bowling in the nets. It would be nice to have him back because of his experience. But again, it will all depend on how well he will bowl. Once you have a long break, you may be a little bit rusty. Let’s hope that he is fit and ready to go but bowling in the nets and bowling in a match are two different things.”

He also added that the Indian captaincy needs to be a little more positive.

“I think the captaincy needs to be a bit more positive. You need to bowl your best bowlers — those who have been around on the tour to start with.”

He hoped that India concentrates only on Monday’s game against Australia.

“The game against Australia on Sunday is a very crucial one, and India shouldn’t be thinking about the fourth game, against England, now. This is the one in which they have to perform, and the bowling has to come good if India has to do well in this game.”

“With the kind of form Australia are in at the moment, India will have to play exceptionally well to beat them, and to do that they have to think differently. Someone has to take charge, like Rohit Sharma did in the first game but now he’s carrying an injury .Someone has to do what he did. Shikhar Dhawan has been a worry but I think they have to continue with him and one big knock may change the whole scenario,” he concluded.