Team India's ideal batting combination is a conundrum

Coach Anil Kumble posed with a problem of plenty: 'I don't think it is the right for me to discuss the team combination. It is a good choice that we have in the squad with Yuvi coming back into the team. We all know what he is capable of. Having said that, both Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav, have done well in that slot'

India coach Anil Kumble and the team faces a headache of sorts in terms of team composition and batting line-up, going into the limited over series against England.

Captain Virat Kohli had said last week that he would like Mahendra Singh Dhoni to bat up the order and history has shown us that the experienced former captain ideal for India at No 4, especially in run chases.

• Where should Dhoni bat in ODIs?

While he has also been prolific at No 5 and batted a lot at No 6, Dhoni himself had made it amply clear that he would like to bat at four and with Yuvraj Singh back in the squad, it remains to be seen who the team management picks to bat at 4, 5 and 6.

"I don't think it is the right for me to discuss the team combination. It is a good choice that we have in the squad with Yuvi coming back into the team. We all know what he is capable of. Having said that, both Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav, have done well in that slot.

“It is nice to have choices, there is competition in the team and that is what you want. All 15 members are available for selection," said Kumble.

He also said there is not much room for experimentation with the Champions Trophy in June.

"At any given point of time, you want to field your best team on the park and we would like to do that considering that each game is a knock-out in the Champions Trophy. That is the mindset players and the team have. There is not much experimentation or much practice in terms of combinations and in terms of what you would like to be prepared with but no tournament you can say that this is the ideal preparation that you would want. Whatever we have we will try and get the most out of it."

Kumble was optimistic about the limited overs teams replicating the recent Test-match success.

"We would like to think that is the only preparation we have before the Champions Trophy so it is important that we start off on a good note.

"It is good to comeback into the one-day mode. We have played a lot of Test cricket, which is good and we have had great results over the last year and would like to start the New Year on a good note.

"The preparations (of Test and one-dayers) are not that dissimilar but yes, you need to bring in a lot more intensity and energy with the way we practice and what we try and do with certain batsmen and bowlers."