New Delhi, Oct 26: As India play fourth ODI against New Zealand at Ranchi, team's biggest concern would be the opening duo of Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, who are yet to give the team an explosive start.
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There is a lot of pressure over Rahane, who had a bad outing in all the three games as an opener, to perform. The Mumbai batsman has failed to convert his starts into big innings on every ocassion in this series.
With innings of 33, 28 and 5 in the first three games against New Zealand, experts now feel that time is running out of Rahane's hands, who is still trying to cement his position in the opening slot in the absence of Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul.
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But according to former India captain Sourav Ganguly, it is not the right time to drop the 28-year-old Mumbaikar. Ganguly feels it would be a big blunder by the team if Rahane is dropped.
"He is not a boundary-hitter. He needs a bit of time and then keep hitting deliveries in the gap. To think of leaving him out from the ODI side will be an absolute blunder by the team," Ganguly was quoted by India Today as saying.
"I don't think Rahane's place is in doubt. He is a bit like Rahul Dravid. When Dravid came in, he struggled with his run-rate. He got a role and that's what the team management needs to do with Rahane," Ganguly added further.
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In the last three ODIs Rahane-Rohit partnership has yielded 49, 21 and 13 runs, respectively. Rohit too hasn't performed upto his potential in the series but there not much pressure over him as of now, given his performances in the past.
However, Indian team management would be looking toward Rohit and Rahane to forge a partnership upfront to release extra pressure on the middle-order.
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