Fitness First

No word of praise is enough for the innings that Mahendra Singh Dhoni played against the Lankans at Jaipur. But Team India should not be looking to make him a regular at the No. 3 slot of the batting order right away. This is because Dhoni is not the best wicket-keeper around, neither is he the fittest of cricketers, as yet. Team India can ill afford to pay the price for keeping wickets by means of his batting prowess. It is extremely taxing to keep wickets for fifty overs and then come to bat at the fall of the first wicket. This also applies when the team bats first. With the Indian batting order packed with top-class batsmen, even when the likes of Mohammad Kaif and Sourav Ganguly are not there, Dhoni can come later in the order, except say, while chasing a big total, as was the case at Jaipur. Dhoni batted with a runner for a long part of the Indian innings at Jaipur, when air temperature and humidity were not at their intolerable worst at the venue. Earlier in the year he had to temporarily retire due to dehydration in the P. Sen Trophy final at Eden Gardens. Had he been as fit as Adam Gilchrist or, Rahul Dravid, for that matter, he should have been a permanent at the one-down position by now. It is upto the Team India support staff to take his fitness fast to the highest level.