With World Cup in Sight, KL Rahul Ready to Bat at Number Four in ODIs

Brimming with confidence after a highly-successful Indian Premier League (IPL) with the bat, KL Rahul has now set his sights on cementing his place in the Indian team. In fact, the Karnataka star is so desperate to get into the team that he is even ready to bat at number four.

The number four position is a significant area of concern for the Indian team management.

The position is the link between the top-order and the lower middle-order and the right man needs to occupy it to keep the balance of the playing XI intact.

But while India’s top-order has been in red-hot form for quite some time now, and the middle-order is taken care of well by the ever-reliable MS Dhoni, the number four spot has given the team-management a big headache.

The Indian camp had experimented extensively in the second half of last year but without much success. Going back to the Sri Lankan tour in July-August last year, through the ODI series against Australia and New Zealand, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik were tried at that position, but none of them managed to impress.

In the last ODI series against South Africa, Ajinkya Rahane was given the responsibility. But while he started brightly, he failed to perform consistently.

And with that spot well up for grabs, the in-form Rahul is eyeing it.

“My childhood dream is to play the World Cup, and if the team management wants me to bat No 4, I am ready to do it because nothing is bigger than playing for India. I hope to continue with my recent form in ODIs too,” Rahul told The Times of India.

The right-hander was in good form throughout the IPL. The Kings XI opener scored a staggering 659 runs in 13 games.

“Right now my aim is to score runs for my country, and it doesn’t matter if it is coming as an opener or in the middle order. As long as I am performing these things don’t matter but the final decision is taken by the team management. If they want me to bat at No 4, then I am up for the challenge,” said Rahul.

As of now, Rahul is focussed on the historic one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru, starting June 14.

Afghanistan are playing their first-ever Test, but Rahul is in no mood to take the spin-heavy side lightly.

“No doubt they are a very talented squad with some really good spinners. That’s their strength, but we will play to our strength,” he reckoned.