ICC World T20: Rahane the popular choice but expect Pandey to replace Yuvraj in the playing XI against West Indies

It took a dodgy ankle to sideline a resilient Yuvraj Singh, who looked eager to justify his presence in the Indian team. Over the past couple of months, there have been several questions about the role of Yuvraj in a team brimming with talent. The fact that he came in the way of Ajinkya Rahane, a hugely popular cricketer and Manish Pandey did not help the left-hander’s case. One man’s pain is another’s gain though and soon as an injury sidelined the embattled cricketer, a new debate has taken birth. Who is the man best suited to take the vacant place? [caption id=“attachment_2704750” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Manish Pandey. Getty Images[/caption] As expected, the BCCI wasted no time in inviting Pandey, the first Indian player to have smashed an IPL century, to join the squad in Mumbai. There is a bit of irony in his unexpected inclusion, just as much with the forced departure of Yuvraj. There was a chorus of consolation for Pandey, who many felt was ready for the big tournament but the selectors were hamstrung by the need to attain balance and keep the squad down to 15. With only hours to go before the big game against the West Indies at the Wankhede, it is safe to say MS Dhoni must have slept over the calculations. He will hope to have woken up to the power of his famed instincts, loaded as he is with the need to make an important decision for the evening. India have played an unchanged XI for most of the Asia Cup and in every game since their journey to Dhaka. So dealing with an unexpected need to change the line-up will not sit well with Dhoni, who seems to prefer a settled unit irrespective of conditions. Speaking of conditions, the strip in Mumbai has been a comfortable bed for batsmen to display their wares without a care in the world. Chris Gayle’s stormy hundred and the 459-run game between England and South Africa were all a result of hungry batsmen exploiting the benign wicket. So who does Dhoni go with a little after dusk today? Does he try and add a bowling option to insure against the loss of Yuvraj by including bowling all-rounder Pawan Negi? Does he bolster the batting by going with either Rahane or Pandey? Or does he trust the spin of Harbhajan Singh, considering the weakness of the Windies line-up against quality spinners? Dhoni has held in recent times that Rahane is a better bet at the top rather than lower down the order. So if the skipper has to pick the Mumbaikar to play in front of his home crowd, he will need to reshuffle the order by switching places with one of the openers or by moving Suresh Raina to No.6. It looks unlikely at this moment given Dhoni’s strong convictions about the best role for Rahane. While it is tempting to think of Negi or Harbhajan as potential dark horses for the match against the West Indies, Dhoni has to feel constrained by the lack of runs from Dhawan, Rohit and Raina. On a strip that seems friendly to batting, Dhoni will want extra ammunition considering the incoherent showing by the top-order. That brings us back to Manish Pandey. The Karnataka player can roll his arm over, bowling slow seamers that could play a role, especially if India is defending a total in the evening on Thursday. Dhoni will also remember that Pandey’s century in Australia helped the team win and turn the tide on an overseas tour that wasn’t going very well until then. Rahane is a popular choice, but Pandey appears more likely to get the nod. In a poll conducted by Firstpost, the former was sitting pretty, with over half of our polled twitteratti opting to pick Rahane.

Who should #IND pick as Yuvraj Singh's replacement for #IndvsWI? https://t.co/xqC0rFT0Cp #WT20

— Firstpost Sports (@FirstpostSports) March 30, 2016

As the game nears, this is a discussion that is set to continue to burn like a forest fire. Will Dhoni be able to call upon his storied calm and invoke his instincts in making the right choice for India? LIKELY INDIA XI MS Dhoni (c)(wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli (vc), Ashish Nehra, Hardik Pandya, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manish Pandey Bench: Harbhajan Singh,Mohammed Shami, Pawan Negi, Ajinkya Rahane