Gautam Gambhir bats for Ambati Rayudu to bat at No. 4 during 2019 World Cup

Dixit Bhargav | 19/03/2019
Gautam Gambhir bats for Ambati Rayudu

Gautam Gambhir bats for Ambati Rayudu: Former Indian opening batsman wants the team management to persist with Ambati Rayudu.

Despite India having played their last ODI before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, there is still no confirmation on who will bat at No. 4 during their first World Cup clash against South Africa on June 5.

From selectors and team management continually experimenting with batsmen at No. 4 to players not really standing tall at the given role, India have no definite solution to a problem which has it in it to affect them duly during the showpiece event.

The fact that India have played as many as 12 batsmen at No. 4 since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 in itself speaks about the inconsistency which the batting number has experienced in the last few years.

In a recent interview with India Today, former India opening batsman Gautam Gambhir has put forward his views as to why zeroing in on one particular No. 4 batsman will hold the key for India.

“If you want a settled batting order in the World Cup, then the No. 4 has to be decided beforehand and he should be backed completely,” Gambhir was quoted as saying by India Today.

“Ambati Rayudu hasn’t done anything wrong”

Ambati Rayudu, who made his comeback into the ODI side after a couple of years during the Asia Cup last year, looked comfortable to bat at No. 4 before a recent inconsistent run hit him. Gambhir believed that the Indian team management should continue to back Rayudu despite his present-day failures.

“You have backed others too. You backed MS Dhoni too last year and even Shikhar Dhawan. Ambati Rayudu averages nearly 50 in ODIs, he hasn’t done anything wrong. Failures are part and parcel of the game. You didn’t drop any other player after two or three failures,” Gambhir said.

Laying emphasis on the fact that the batting number should have already become a settled position by now, Gambhir made public the idea of persisting with whichever candidate the management goes for.

“No. 4 should have been a settled position by now. Virat Kohli played the 2011 World Cup at No. 4. Whoever the team management decides to back should be backed to the hilt and they should stay patient with him. It is a very important slot and you can’t have a floater at No 4 because the No. 3 and No. 4 makes the core of your middle order,” Gambhir added.

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Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
Ambati Rayudu Gautam Gambhir icc cricket world cup 2019 India

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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