India vs Australia 2019: Play Vijay Shankar, Rest MS Dhoni In Second T20I, Reckons Dhoni's ex-CSK Teammate

Former cricketers Hemang Badani and Shaun Tait feel India should rest MS Dhoni and play Vijay Shankar in the upcoming second T20I against Australia.

With the World Cup in sight all the teams are busy experimenting with their lineups and team India is no different. The team-management has already made it clear that the ongoing series against Australia will be used for experimentation.  The ongoing series will be India’s last assignment before the players play the Indian Premier League and fly to England for the all important World Cup.

And with just a handful of games left now Badani and Shaun Tait feel India should rest MS Dhoni and play Vijay Shankar instead. The duo feel that since Dhoni’s World Cup spot is secured, India should try out new players.

“Dhoni anyways is going to play the World Cup and is your first keeper. If you had asked me, to begin with, I would say don’t play MS Dhoni at all. Give Dhoni a rest. You are figuring out who will be your second wicketkeeper. I would say straightaway that try out Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik,” Badani told ESPNCricinfo.

“But Indian selectors have gone ahead with Dhoni in the first game. But I would say try out DK, try put Pant because this is a trial for them to be the second keeper. Vijay Shankar has done exceedingly well in the series against New Zealand. That is why I say, try that kid out and give him as many chances as possible. If gets some runs on the board there is a chance that he might go on to play in the World Cup,” added Badani who played with Dhoni for India and Chennai Super Kings.

Tait, on the other hand, said:

“I don’t think Dhoni wants to rest. At his age, he wants to keep playing and keep his body up and running. But given that, yes Dhoni will go to the World Cup. So you might as well try the other guys.”

Dhoni, meanwhile, had a tough outing in the first T20I on Sunday. He came to the crease when India were reeling at 80 for 3. The situation demanded a cautious approach and Dhoni did exactly that. However, with wickets falling on regular intervals, he never really managed to break the shackles. The former India skipper faced 37 deliveries and ended up with just 29 runs.

Dhoni managed to hit just one boundary in his innings which is the most number of balls faced by an Indian in a T20I innings for hitting one or fewer boundaries. The previous highest was 35 balls by Ravindra Jadeja during the 2009 WT20 game against England. Jadeja hit only one four during his 35-ball stay for 25 runs.

Dhoni’s strike rate of 78.38 is now also the second lowest by an Indian batsman after Ravindra Jadeja, who holds the record with a strike rate on 71.42.

Australia are currently leading the two-match series after winning the opener by 3 wickets in Vizag.