"The BRC think-tank would have thought that Praveen's effectiveness in the later half of the innings would be reduced as there won't be any powerplay, so they asked him to open. But clearly he wasn't up to the mark and his failure showed that there isn't much scope for a pinch-hitter in Twenty20 games," says former India coach Lal Chand Rajput, who led India to the Twenty20 World Cup win.
Like fashion, trends in cricket also come back in cycles, and like fashion again if an experiment lacks common sense it fails. Javagal Srinath used the long handle at number nine to good effect but when he was promoted at three he could never get going except for an occasional fifty. Same was the case with South Africa's Pat Symcox. Anshuman Gaekwad, who was India coach when Srinath was promoted tells us how the experiment was done. "We wanted Srinath to bat up the order because he could hit big shots and could disturb the strategies of the opposition. It comes off at times and it doesn't come off, but the key thing is the selection of the pinch-hitter. He should have a normal ball sense."
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