Former Indian cricketer worried about faltering strike rates of Dhoni, Pandya

On the eve of the fifth ODI of the ongoing series between South Africa and India, former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth has expressed his concerns over the Indian lower middle-order. The former cricketer looked very disturbed with the form of opener Rohit Sharma as well. Rohit has the worst average by an Indian cricketer in South Africa at the moment.

Meanwhile, the likes of Hardik Pandya have failed to live up the promise they had shown in home conditions. At the very same time, during the previous ODI at Johannesburg, MS Dhoni’s struggle to get going towards the end overs proved to be a worrying concern for the visitors. Reflecting at all these factors, Kris Srikkanth admitted that the faltering strike rates and inconsistency of Dhoni and Pandya is hurting India.

“The form of Rohit Sharma is a big concern and so is the strike rate and consistency of Dhoni and Pandya. Rohit is too good a player in this format to be missing out, especially in proper batting conditions,” K Srikkanth was quoted as saying by the Times of India.

“Dhoni failed to accelerate as he has in the recent past (in the fourth ODI). The former captain and Hardik Pandya could not have hoped for a more solid platform to launch an attack and get India to a massive score,” he added further.

Series about Kohli-Dhawan partnerships

Meanwhile, he had his words of praise for batsmen Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. Kris Srikkanth rightly noted that if the numbers of Dhawan and Kohli are taken out, there is very little to show for the other players in the series. Coming to Port Elizabeth, things are going to be tough, if not tougher. India has lost all the five ODIs they have played at the venue. This includes a defeat against Kenya back in 2001-2002 season at the venue.

“This series has so far been all about Virat Kohli and one significant partnership with him in the middle (last three with Shikhar Dhawan). Once you take those numbers out, there is little else to show. Constant chopping and changing of personnel and the batting order is not helping the team’s cause either,” he cited.

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