One of the biggest concerns for the Indian team is its middle order batting as they haven’t been able to find a batter for the number 4 position. Skipper Rohit Sharma has also accepted that the Indian team has failed in coming up with a better option after the retirement of Yuvraj Singh.
During a discussion, the former head coach of the Indian cricket team, Ravi Shastri said that during his tenure, he thought of shifting Virat Kohli from number 3 to number 4 but it didn’t happen at that time. He added that the team management can talk to Virat and ask him to play at number 4 but this suggestion of Ravi Shastri did not go well with the former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar.
When Sanjay Manjrekar was asked to comment on the theory given by Ravi Shastri, the former says that he feels Virat Kohli has been made a scapegoat by the experts when it comes to adjusting other players such as Ishan Kishan in the team because they feel if Virat plays at number 4, then all the problems of the Indian team will be solved.
Sanjay Manjrekar gave a harsh reminder of the 2007 World Cup in which India was knocked out of the league phase after getting defeated by Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. That Indian team had some big names of Indian cricket such as Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, etc. but some poor decisions by skipper Rahul Dravid and coach Greg Chapell led to miserable performance of the Indian squad. One such poor decision was to make Sachin Tendulkar play at number 4 instead of opening the innings.
However, Sanjay Manjrekar also adds that it all depends on Virat Kohli, if he is fine playing at number 4, then there is no problem and it will also give solution to middle order problems of the Indian team.
Earlier, another former Indian cricketer Dodda Ganesh made a tweet on the same lines as he wrote, “Your best batter should bat at his customary position where he’s had all the success. Not a fan of Kohli batting at no 4 just because the team couldn’t find a batter for these many years. Remember, what happened in 2007 WC where Sachin was asked to bat at 4 #CricketTwitter”
Your best batter should bat at his customary position where he’s had all the success. Not a fan of Kohli batting at no 4 just because the team couldn’t find a batter for these many years. Remember, what happened in 2007 WC where Sachin was asked to bat at 4 #CricketTwitter
— Dodda Ganesh | ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಣೇಶ್ (Modi Ka Parivar) (@doddaganesha) August 21, 2023
Should Virat Kohli play at number 4 or should he keep playing at number 3? What do you say? Let us know your opinion.
