4 Reasons Why Virat Kohli Should Not Bat At Number 4 In ICC World Cup 2019

The rise of Virat Kohli in the game of cricket has been pretty quick. His incredible hard work regarding his fitness and in the practice session yielded him great success on the field for Indian National Cricket Team. Within no time, he became the best batsman in world cricket. Just when things are going right, then came the statement from the head coach Ravi Shastri, who is looking to bat Virat Kohli at number 4. Meanwhile, we figured out four reasons why India should not play him at number 4.

Here are they:

4. Might Miss A Match-Winner At Number 3:

Well, over the years, the presence and consistency of Virat Kohli at number 3 has been impeccable. The flamboyant batsman stood like a wall for the team in the middle and ensured to get runs for the team more often than not. Now, if he moves to number 4, India should ask their new number 3 batsman to perform at any cost, which may go either way.

Further, if the number 3 fails to come good for the team then surely, the opposition would get the upper hand. By the time when Virat Kohli walks in at number 4 with a couple of wickets down, he needs to play cautiously, which certainly changes a lot of things. In order to remain the same, asking Virat to bat at number 3 would be a good idea. More often than not, he can stabilise the innings even if India lose an early opening wicket.

3. Change in Mindset:

Once again the above-mentioned point comes into the play. If India loses a couple of wickets early in the innings, Virat Kohli should cut down his scoring shots, as the amount of pressure is certainly high on his shoulders. With his presence at the crease is so important, it would certainly ask Virat Kohli to play more of an anchor role by rotating the strike rate.

More importantly, by the time Virat Kohli gets to the crease, the bowlers of the opposition would already get their line and lengths and there is a good chance that they can get the better off India’s best batsman with the pressure of losing a couple of early wickets.

2. Not The Best Time To Experiment:

Well, the change in batting lineup right in the tournament like ICC World Cup 2019 isn’t a great idea. So far, Virat Kohli batted brilliantly at number 3 for India. Suddenly, if they ask him to bat at number 4 and bring in a new number 3 player, it is more like complicating things to the unit, who is performing brilliantly.

Perhaps, it would have been a good idea if India tried Virat Kohli at number 4 in the recently-concluded ODI series in South Africa, England and Australia. But, when their main aim is to win the ICC World Cup 2019, it isn’t a great decision to make tuning to the lineup, which has been the best in the recent past.

1. Incredible record at number 3:

If you look at Virat Kohli at numbers at the number 3 slot for India, it would be mind-boggling. No cricketer in the world cricket would come close to his numbers in the ODI format of the game such has been his consistency at the number 3 position for India.

Let’s take the record of Virat Kohli in 2018, he played 14 ODI games for the country and garnered 1202 runs at an incredible average of 133.55. What can a team expect more than that from a batsman at number 3? Now, suddenly, changing his position in the major event will be like adding troubles to yourself.