Indian cricket team’s No. 4 batting position turning into a three-ring circus right before ODI World Cups remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in the history of mankind. Irrespective of the status of this particular role before a World Cup, how it becomes a selection conundrum in a trice is a pill hard to swallow.
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Whether it naturally becomes one or is made to become on the back of a collaborative narrative put forth by experts, selectors or the team management is also worth speculating about.
It is to be noted that a total of 23 Indian batters have batted at No. 4 across the first 12 editions of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Although not 23 at the moment, the number of prominent personalities to have expressed an opinion on India’s No. 4 for the forthcoming 13th World Cup are highly likely to touch this figure by October 5.
Should Virat Kohli Bat At No. 4 During 2023 World Cup?
Interestingly and co-incidentally, after 16 years, India’s best batter is once again being advised to demote himself to No. 4 before a marquee event. Therefore, former captain Virat Kohli finds himself at the epicentre of these suggestions being made from left, right and centre.
In what gained popularity with former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri, someone who shared an elongated partnership as a head coach during Kohli’s captaincy tenure at the highest level, it has recently received validation from former South Africa captain AB de Villiers, someone who shared an elongated partnership as a batter during Kohli’s captaincy tenure at Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League.
de Villiers, one of the best No. 4 batters himself in the history of the format, considers Kohli to be “perfect” for No. 4 because of his capability to “put the innings together”.
But why on earth would you want to reduce a super perfect batter at No. 3 to just a perfect batter at No. 4? Hadn’t the Indian cricket team suffered enough for demoting a super perfect opener to No. 4 during ICC Cricket World Cup 2007? Why, all of a sudden, are people starting to think that Kohli wouldn’t be able to put together the Indian innings at No. 3?
Additionally, a common element between all these experts’ opinion around Kohli batting at No. 4 is how neither of them has cared to name a batter who is adept enough to replace him at No. 3? If truth be told, no one is! At the moment, not only India but the whole planet doesn’t have a better No. 3 than Kohli, who is arguably the best batter to have ever played at this position in this format.
Kohli, who has scored 1,767 runs across 39 ODI innings at No. 4, has the second-best average (55.21) and the third-best strike rate (90.66) among Indian cricketers with more than 500 runs at this position. Furthermore, his seven ODI centuries at No. 4 are the most among his fellow countrymen. Having said that, Kohli has neither scored a century at No. 4 since 2014 nor batted there since 2020.
To sum up everything, demoting Kohli at No. 4 will doubtlessly be the equivalent of ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin‘s much-speculated (didn’t happen though) comeback for the World Cup. Not that one doubts these two greats’ skills with respect to the respective jobs at hand, both the moves would simply look in the opposite direction of consistency. Lest we forget, being consistently inconsistent is no hallmark for great teams.
Who Should Bat At No. 4 For India During 2023 World Cup?
Now that he’s fit, no one other than Shreyas Iyer should bat at No. 4 for India during ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. With a hiccup in the form of a back injury behind him, Iyer should pick up from exactly where he left off earlier this year.
Since Kohli last batted at No. 4 in an ODI, Iyer has emerged as India’s best batter in this role. Having scored 675 runs across 17 innings at an average and strike rate of 48.21 and 92.97 respectively including two centuries and three half-centuries, Iyer is the only No. 4 batter around the world to average more than 45 and strike at more than 90 in this period.
