Suspense over KL Rahul’s batting order ahead of the India-England ODI series

Suspense is looming over KL Rahul’s batting order ahead of the India-England ODI series and nothing is certain as to whether he would bat at No 3 or 4.

India have several contenders for the middle order spot in KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer. While the top order is more or less settled with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan forming the top 2, the middle order is still to be finalized.

Virat Kohli vacated his No 3 spot for KL Rahul in the T20I series and has been moving up and down the order. However, one expects him to get back at No 3 in the ODIs.

Also Read: After India’s T20I series win against England, what will change in the ODIs

In the recent times, he has shown a tendency to bat at No 4 but many believe that his game is most suited at one down. At the same time, he will try to accelerate with his typical controlled aggression.

At the same time, KL Rahul’s unbeaten 100 at NO 3 in the first T20I was a treat to watch.  Scoring runs is one thing but scoring them in the manner in which KL Rahul is scoring those runs these days is something extraordinary. Rahul is certainly in a league of his own right now.

Rahul had earlier said that though he preferred to bat as an opener he is ‘flexible in his head’ to bat anywhere which suits the team. Rahul said that, “It has been made very clear by Virat and the team management that some changes would be made in the batting order. I am prepared to even bat at five or six. If we get a good start, we can also send MS Dhoni or Hardik Pandya to hit a few sixes and increase the scoring rate.”

When Rohit Sharma was asked Rahul’s position in the press conference, he said that he would bat at 3 or 4.

Former Indian Captain has already suggested that Kohli should bat at 4 and Rahul at 3. My gut feel is Kohli will bat at 3, Rahul at 4.