Leeds, Jul 17: India's assistant coach Sanjay Bangar on Monday came to the defence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, saying losing wickets at regular intervals did not allow the veteran campaigner to play freely in the second ODI at Lord's.
Former skipper Dhoni took a lot of flak for playing uncharacteristic innings at Lord's, where he was even jeered while scoring 37 off 59 balls.
After skipper Virat Kohli and leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, Bangar too backed Dhoni.
"With the combination, we are playing we do not have the depth at numbers 8, 9 or 10 (the lower order), and when you lose a couple of wickets, it becomes really difficult to bat with that sort of freedom. Due credit to the England bowlers, they didn’t allow us to score any boundaries in that period and that was the reason the run rate kept climbing up," Bangar said.
The final series-deciding ODI will be played at Headingley on Tuesday.
"He was just hoping someone would bat with him and we were just hoping that he could bat till the 40th over and take the bowlers on. But, every time he looked to do that, we lost wickets - first, there was Raina and then Hardik (Pandya), and then there was no batting to follow for him to do the usual stuff he does," he added.
Notwithstanding the envy it evokes among opposing teams, Bangar said India's batting line-up is still a work in progress, as the middle order needs to spend more time at the crease.
"The way our top order is batting, our middle order hasn't got the opportunities as the top order is doing the bulk of the scoring. At times, they straightaway walk into the game. Mind you, not all of them are playing all the formats so you have to give some weightage to that," Bangar said at the pre-match press conference.
The series is locked at 1-1 after India won by eight wickets in Nottingham, while England won by 86 runs at Lord's.
KL Rahul failed to get going in the second ODI and India might bring in some changes in the middle order for this finale.
"Obviously, the plan was to have a left-hander batting in the middle-order. That is the reason why Suresh (Raina) was picked ahead of Dinesh (Karthik). We did change a bit in the T20 format, where KL batted at three and Virat batted at four. Looking at this series, and the performances that Virat has got at three, especially in the last series, he scored three centuries versus South Africa in five games.
"It is going to be a very fluid situation. We'll see as to the players available and the fitness of the players. Ambati Rayudu was someone who can bat very well in the middle-order, but unfortunately, he couldn't clear the fitness test. But I am pretty sure going forward, if he passes the fitness test, he could also be a candidate," he added.
A key element for India going into the decider will be the availability of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. While Kohli, Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan were absent from the optional practice on Monday, Kumar was seen bowling at full tilt. He will, however, undergo a fitness test before the game.
"He's a quality bowler. We've obviously been missing our two frontline bowlers in the ODI format. Also provides us with an opportunity, because there are not too many games to go before the World Cup - only 16 or 17 games. It gives us an ideal situation to test the bench strength."
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