 Indian captain MS Dhoni has said that Virat Kohli will play ahead of Suresh Raina in the first game of the World Cup. The 2011 edition of the World Cup which will be played from February 19 will see India take on Bangladesh in the opener, after the opening ceremony was held at Dhaka on February 17.
Dhoni said that the manner in which Kohli has performed over the last few months
give him the edge over Raina in the playing eleven. And with Yusuf Pathan
having sealed his berth and with Yuvraj Singh, who can bowl his set of ten overs
with ease, it was left to Raina to face the axe.
To add to the fact that Raina will miss the game, there was also an incident
of Raina missing his bus that took the team to the airport. The team was to
leave for Bangladesh and Raina woke up late after missing his alarm clock.
This meant that he missed the bus and had to rush to the airport to catch the
flight along with his team-mates.
Dhoni spoke to the media and said that in jest that in a team of 15 players,
one rarely misses anyone if they miss the flight.
In the same interview, Dhoni also asked his pace bowler S Sreesanth to cool
down during the matches. Sreesanth, who has been involved in many of the controversial
moments in international cricket was involved in another skirmish with the Australian
captain Ricky Ponting, in their warm-up game.
It was not only the Australia game, but Sreesanth continued his antics even
against New Zealand, when he got rid of Brendon McCullum and told him off. Earlier,
after getting into an argument with the Australian captain he had had an L sign
on his forehead to signify that the Aussie captain was a loser.
Dhoni, who has been one of the critics of the bowler, has now said that the
bowler needs to keep within his limits.
Dhoni added that he had spoken to Sreesanth and asked him to behave properly
without crossing the line. He added that while it was okay to show some aggression
on the field, Sreesanth had the habit of going overboard with his enthusiasm
and that was an issue.
India take on Bangladesh at Mirpur on February 19 and it is not yet sure whether
Sreesanth will make it to the playing eleven of the side.
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