ICC World Cup 2019: Virender Sehwag Sheds Light On India’s Number 4 Puzzle
May 21, 2019 at 12:43 PM
One of the major debates after the conclusion of the squad announcement is the number 4 batsman Vijay Shankar, who got the nod ahead of Ambati Rayudu. Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag is the latest to join the bandwagon to speak on Vijay Shankar. However, Sehwag was different in his take from the rest of them.
Other than Vijay, there are quite a few options in the hand for the Indian management with KL Rahul, MS Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav. Among them, the former stylish batsman of India Virender Sehwag believes that the team got flexibility and everyone needs to be ready for switching.
The batting all-rounder has always been a scarcity for India in the International cricket. After Kapil Dev, we hardly got a player with a stature like him. After quite a time, India got a leap of faith with Hardik Pandya delivering the goods in both sections of the game. Now, they got one more player in the form of Vijay Shankar, who is a batting dominant all-rounder.
Of late, Vijay Shankar had a glorious stint with the Indian National Cricket Team. He impressed the team management with his brilliance with the bat in New Zealand and then, against Australia. He walked in tough phases of the game and settled the ship for Virat Kohli-led side. Meanwhile, he grabs a place for ICC World Cup 2019.
Vijay Shankar may bat at 4 initially – Virender Sehwag
Speaking of the same, Virender Sehwag quoted that the management has decided to go with Vijay Shankar for the number 4 slot. He wants the team to be flexible enough and everyone to be ready when the situation demands a shuffling. Further, he asked Virat Kohli or one of the two openers to play an anchor role for the team.
“The team will decide according to the situation. In the initial games, Vijay Shankar may bat there. But the team will be flexible. If we are thinking of winning the Cup, we should not be obsessed with such those things. Anybody in the middle-order should be ready to bat between No. 4, 5 and 6. But one of Rohit, Shikhar and Virat has to bat for a longer duration. Someone should drop anchor from one end,” Sehwag said in an interview to Times of India.
Well, it would be interesting to see how the youngster approaches the upcoming showpiece event. Most probably, he will be getting the chance right in the first game to play at number 4 for the team.