India Should Play Virat Kohli at His Usual Position of No. 3 - Zaheer Khan

Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan believes skipper Virat Kohli should bat at his usual position of number three in the forthcoming ICC World Cup 2019. The Indian head coach Ravi Shastri had recently said that they are mulling to bat Kohli at number four position. Subsequently, Ambati Rayudu who bats at number four can be promoted to number three.

Meanwhile, Zaheer Khan believes it would be a defensive move if India demotes Virat Kohli in the batting position. Kohli has a sublime record while batting at number three and it would not make much sense for the thing tank to bat him at number four. The talisman batsman has batted with aplomb in the recent past and he has a great record at number three.

Where Kohli should bat?

Kohli has scored 37 ODI hundreds while batting at number three whereas the remaining four centuries has come at number four position. Hence, it is prudent not to alter with the batting giant position.

“In the last few games, we haven’t got the starts, which we used to. What if the same repeats in England conditions? How we are going to tackle it? Maybe, the option is to play Virat Kohli at number 4 but I don’t agree with that. I think it is a negative kind of a move. It is a defensive move,” Zaheer Khan quoted to Cricbuzz.

It would be a defensive move.

Zaheer believes batting Kohli at number four is like protecting him. Kohli is the best batsman in the World and if he cannot get the job done at number four then no other batsman can deliver the goods in the same position.

“It is actually protecting your best batsman. Your number 3 batsman should be given enough opportunity and Kohli is well used to it. When you got that why changing the order. If Virat bats at number 4, I think it is not the right sign for India going forward,” he added to his lines.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli had batted at number four position in the fourth ODI against Australia as KL Rahul was promoted to number three. Kohli had a rare failure as he could only score seven runs.

On the other hand, it would be interesting to note the batting position of Virat Kohli in the upcoming World Cup. Meanwhile, Kohli is going to hold the key for the India National Cricket Team as he has been instrumental in the success of the team over the years.