Virat Kohli doesn’t want to force Ajinkya Rahane bat in middle-order

Mumbai: India skipper Virat Kohli, who will be playing his 200th ODI here at the Wankhede Stadium, has indicated that Ajinkya Rahane might not be a part of the starting eleven with the return of regular opener Shikhar Dhawan. Kohli said he didn’t want to confuse Rahane by making him play in the middle order.

Rahane stepped up in the absence of Dhawan as the Mumbai batsman scored four consecutive half centuries. 

“Rahane has always grabbed his opportunity as the third opener. Only two openers can play and we don’t want to confuse him and make him play in the middle order. He is in a happy space. If there is an injury or anything, he is right at the doorstep, we don’t want to confuse him in any way,” said the skipper.

Wrist spinners, Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, have impressed everyone following their success against the Aussies. For Kohli, it’s difficult not to play both of them in the XI.

“We need to experiment before reaching the world cup. We have had it in mind always to play two wrist spinners,” he added.

Kohli said the aim was to create a strong pool of spinners before the 2019 World Cup to be held in England.

“R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have played limited overs cricket for last 6-7 years regularly, but these youngsters have come up well. People count the results and we have the results and that matters,” said the captain.