Dhoni showed why he needs to bat higher up and other talking points from Cuttack T20I

Another India vs Sri Lanka match. Another lop-sided affair.

As if it was not enough that these two teams have played each other over and over again, the first T20I in Cuttack was yet another drab affair, if one was expecting a close contest. Sri Lankan captain Thisara Perera looked delighted to win the toss, and knowing dew was going to be a factor later in the night, opted to bowl first. On another day, this could have proved to be a challenge for an under-strength Indian side.

But as it turned out – and we cannot stress this enough – that it was a no-contest.

From an Indian perspective, however, there were quite a few takeaways.

KL Rahul fits right in

Just as it seems to happen so often these days in Indian cricket, an opening batsman who gets a chance in the absence of the first choice, makes the most of it.

It was a fine innings by KL Rahul, who, despite his obvious talent, has gone from an all-format player for India to, possibly, not first choice in any of the three in very quick time. Now remember, here’s a batsman who has an international century to his name across formats. But slowly, and steadily, he’s becoming the first-choice back up, with Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay and Rohit Sharma finding form at different points of time.

In that sense, the fluent 48-ball 61 he made against an admittedly ordinary Sri Lankan bowling attack was yet another example of an Indian player grabbing a chance given to him. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say he was dismissed off the only poor shot he played all night.

“It was a great move for us to start KL Rahul at the top,” captain Rohit said after the match. “He was not part of the ODI squad but he came here and showed he belonged. And he batted magnificently. Right from ball one, we felt he was knocking the ball really well.”

The Chahal-Kuldeep show

It wasn’t supposed to be this easy.

Granted, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav have been in fine form for India in the shorter formats recently, but with dew always going to be a factor, conventional wisdom would suggest two wrist spinners would struggle.

But then, Chahal and Kuldeep have made it a habit to deliver wickets to their captain(s) when asked and it was the same again in Cuttack.

“Chahal and Kuldeep (Yadav) have always been our wicket-taking options in the middle. They understand what the team expects and they come out and deliver,” said Rohit. “No words can describe how good they have been for us,” he said. “Conditions weren’t easy and they did very very well.”

As was observed on these pages, Chahal and Kuldeep (along with Axar Patel) have made sure R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja won’t be missed with the white ball.

Vintage Dhoni

Should MS Dhoni play T20Is? If he does, where should he bat? Is he still a finisher?

These were the questions that have been repeatedly debated in the past month or so, and in the final series of 2017, with India missing the services of Virat Kohli and Dhawan, the focus was once again going to be on what Dhoni can offer with the bat. When he walked into bat at No 4 on Wednesday in Cuttack, India had a good platform. 44 balls were left in the innings. This was, perhaps, ideal territory for Dhoni – just enough time to get his eye in before launching a late attack.

And he did exactly that.

Of the first 10 balls he faced, he scored 9 runs – one of them a ferocious straight drive that left Rahul on the floor at the non-striker’s end. This coincided with a four-over phase when India scored just 21 runs, having lost Rahul’s wicket. This is the kind of situation that India do not thrive under in the shortest format. But Dhoni, with Manish Pandey for company, led a late assault that saw India score 61 runs in the last four overs.

And yet another six off the last ball, proved to be the icing on that particular cake. One good innings does not end the debate over Dhoni’s spot in the side, but sending him in at No 4, giving him time to find his radar, and allowing him to bat freely at the end is a solution that’s been obvious for a while now – and one that, seemingly, has been taken on board by the Indian think-tank.

“MSD, I mean, what can I say about him,” gushed Rohit after the match. “He didn’t get enough opportunities in the ODI series, but showed again that class is going to permanent. We expect a lot from him and batting at No 4 really paid off.

“He’s someone who’s won a lot of games for us. Moving forward, we feel that in this format, making him bat at No 4 is ideal. That allows someone like Manish and Dinesh to finish games off,” Rohit continued. “For a long period of time, MS has been taking the responsibility of finishing games off and we want someone else to do that now. And let MS bat freely in the middle. And he showed it today. He came out and batted freely and we, as a team, got the result we wanted.”