Former Indian cricketer and former chief selector of Indian national cricket team, Sandeep Patil believes that India’s batting positions are flexible. He thinks that anyone can bat at no.4 batting position during the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
Indian national cricket team is ready for the forthcoming 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. England and Wales will host this tournament from 30th May to 14th July. The two-time World Cup-winners India will start their upcoming World Cup journey on 5th June when they will face South Africa at Southampton.
Meanwhile, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already announced the 15-member Team India squad for the upcoming Cricket World Cup. While India’s most of the batting positions have been fixed already, the no.4 batting position is still debatable.
During India’s World Cup squad announcement, the Chairman of the selection committee, MSK Prasad revealed that they were primarily considering Vijay Shankar for the no.4 batting position.
However, Sandeep Patil believes that India’s batting positions are flexible.
According to Sportstar, Sandeep Patil recently said, “It’s nonsense, all this debate. Batting positions are flexible. Every number, be it opening or No. 11, is important.”
Anybody can bat at no.4 – Sandeep Patil
Talking more about the no.4 batting position, Patil added that India had a vast option. However, he feels that MS Dhoni is the ideal for the no.4 batting position. But he also hasn’t discarded the chance of Virat Kohli to bat at no.4 in the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
Patil added, “Anybody can bat, including M.S.Dhoni. Then there is Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar. Dhoni has batted at No. 4. When I was the chairman, he was always my No. 4 choice, while he said he was No. 6. I told have told him many times that he should bat No.4. Who knows what will happen. Even Virat (Kohli) can bat at 4.”
Just a few months ago, Indian head coach Ravi Shastri revealed that the Indian skipper Virat Kohli could bat at no.4 position in the upcoming Cricket World Cup. He claimed that if the conditions favoured for the swing bowlers, Virat Kohli would bat at no.4 instead of his usual dominant position at no.3.
Since the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, India’s no.4 batting position in ODI cricket has faced massive volatility. In this period, a total of 12 batsmen have played at the no.4 batting position. Ambati Rayudu, who has played the most number of innings at this position since the last Cricket World Cup, hasn’t been included in the latest World Cup squad. So, India’s no.4 batting position is still debatable.
India’s no.4 batting line-up performances (in ODI cricket) since the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup
| Player | Innings | Runs scored | Highest score | Average | Strike-rate | 100s/50s |
| Ambati Rayudu | 14 | 464 | 100 | 42.18 | 85.60 | 1/2 |
| MS Dhoni | 12 | 448 | 87* | 40.72 | 76.84 | 0/3 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | 10 | 420 | 89 | 46.66 | 92.71 | 0/4 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 9 | 358 | 150 | 44.75 | 97.54 | 1/1 |
| Dinesh Karthik | 9 | 264 | 64* | 52.80 | 71.35 | 0/2 |
| Manish Pandey | 7 | 183 | 104* | 36.60 | 92.89 | 1/0 |
| Hardik Pandey | 5 | 150 | 78 | 30.00 | 106.38 | 0/1 |
| Manoj Tiwary | 3 | 34 | 22 | 11.33 | 46.57 | 0/0 |
| Virat Kohli | 3 | 30 | 12 | 10.00 | 71.42 | 0/0 |
| KL Rahul | 3 | 26 | 17 | 13.00 | 59.09 | 0/0 |
| Kedar Jadhav | 3 | 18 | 12 | 9.00 | 50.00 | 0/0 |
| Rishabh Pant | 1 | 16 | 16 | 16.00 | 100.00 | 0/0 |