It has become a national debate. There could be a movie made out of it. India’s No.4 merry-go-round in ODI cricket has become one of the side’s biggest talking points.
That coveted spot came back to haunt them in the World Cup, as four different players featued there, while 13 players have been tried there in the last four years.
Two years back, it was Yuvraj Singh. However, after the Champions Trophy and the West Indies tour, India went to KL Rahul and Manish Pandey.
In South Africa, Ajinkya Rahane was the man and he did well. Virat Kohli spoke highly of him and the variety he brought to the side. However, six months later, Rahul was back, but given just two chances before being done away with.
Ambati Rayudu was supposedly ideal and played a couple of good knocks in pressure situations in the lead-up to the World Cup. However, by the time the tournament arrived, his time was up too.
Vijay Shankar was the selectors’ choice and the ‘three dimensional’ debate was underway.
A minor injury ahead of the first practice game and a failure in the second brought Rahul into the fray once again. The Karnataka lad scored a ton in a warm-up against Bangladesh and his stocks went up. However, he played just one game against South Africa at that slot before Shikhar Dhawan was injured and he had to move to the top of the order.
Enter Shankar, who played a couple of knocks before getting injured, but he might’ve been dropped anyway considering the way he threw away starts.
Rishabh Pant then played four games at the business end of the tournament and looked good every time – until he threw his wicket away.
Middle-order woes were one of the reasons for India’s heartbreaking loss in the semi-final and it was expected the side would give someone longer rope to build towards the 2023 World Cup.
Rishabh Pant (AP Photo/David Rowland)
Yet the merry-go-round hasn’t stopped.
Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey earned recalls after their impressive performances in the IPL and domestic cricket. Rahul was present and the incumbent No.4, as he started the World Cup at that slot.
However, despite not doing anything wrong and getting just one opportunity, Rahul went back to be a backup opener.
Iyer, who has played just six ODIs before and didn’t do too badly, got another chance. However, the first ODI was washed out and when skipper Kohli was asked at the toss during the second match about the order, he zeroed in on Pant for the most-talked-about spot.
“We are backing Rishabh to still bat at four and Shreyas Iyer will bat at five,” the captain said.
Kohli also said that numbers four and five are floating positions and it will depend on the situation who bats where.
Does that mean Pant will come in if India get a good start and Iyer if they lose a couple of early wickets? India’s top three have been brilliant – as consistent as anybody over the last few years.
When they fail though, they do so collectively, as happened in the World Cup. So who is the man for that situation? Iyer? Pant?
Moreover, Iyer is certainly not a five, having failed in the few innings he’s played there. But he succeeded in this second ODI game against West Indies.
However, the middle order often crumbles once they lose their set batsmen towards the death – and No.4 has been at the forefront of those concerns.
One solution could be breaking the famed top three. Yes, they’ve been superb together but they crumble together.
The most ideally suited to bat at four seems Kohli. Yes, he is perhaps the best first drop in world cricket, but it could be India’s long-term solution.
They could give someone like Iyer or even Shubman Gill a chance at three to ease into the side. In fact, both Gill and Iyer have batted in the top three for most of their careers in domestic cricket.
Kohli can come in at two for 20-odd, arrest the slide and control the innings. He can even come once the platform is set and continue in the same vein. He’s been talking a lot about how he is happy to let others revolve around him and play their natural game.
However, that doesn’t seem to be happening at the moment as Kohli continues to churn out runs for fun at three. He struck his 42nd ODI ton while Pant wasted another opportunity at four, scratching around for 35 balls to score 20 before he was bowled.
Iyer came in at five and scored a solid half-century and now has made a strong case for No.4.
Thus, with Pant failing and Iyer coming back strongly, will the musical chairs continue? For how long will Pant be backed at four?
Gurlivleen Grewal
Roar Pro
Yes, that's true but such foresight at the cost of personal gain (easy runs, averages) is missing.
Paul
Roar Guru
Surely the issue has to be, will India win the games that count with the top 3 and in recent times, they've struggled without a Dhoni type batsman. I'm thinking they need to do some experimenting prior to the next ODI World Cup, even if it means Kholi batting much lower, or not even playing at all. The younger brigade need a chance to show what they can do and that's next to impossible with such a dominant trio at the head of the order.
Gurlivleen Grewal
Roar Pro
Understand your point. That is why I think Jack Leach or tailenders should open the batting for England in tests. But the problem is they win a good number of games due to the top 3. Will Kohli win enough games as a finisher? It is a radical thought but Kohli is more likely to hold one end rather than say he coming at 6 with the team not many for 3/4 wickets down!
Paul
Roar Guru
Would it cost India strength if they have ready made replacements at 3 ( Jadeja), 4 (Pant) and 5 ( Pandiya), so Kohli could come in lower? The Indian lineup is such that the top 3 regularly leave the rest of the lineup with a very difficult task. The top 3 generally bats for at least 35 - 40 overs, leaving little time for the other 8 guys to have a hit. As a consequence, the rest of the order struggles when/if the top 3 fail. Unless they get a quality batsman, (not a hitter but a proper batsman), down the list, India will find itself losing more & more games in the future, with the departure of Dhoni.
Gurlivleen Grewal
Roar Pro
That would, in essence, cost the team a lot of strength. Kohli could be ranked as the top 3 odi players of all time - so utilizing him at 4 is what I think could be best. Batting at 3 in ODIs does seem to be a simpler role than say batting at 5! Move a promising youngster at 3, another at 5 with Kohli sandwiched in between as they grow into that role. The T20 influence is pertinent for all teams but the demands of the position dictate that only a very few will qualify to succeed. It has always been that way. I think teams like Aus, Ind, SA have such talent but generally lack the long term planning ala Eng. The influence of T20s would be / is being felt more in tests imo. Lack of quality, patient spinners, consistent pacers, batters who know how to bide time, wicket-keeping talent focussed on just that role, etc.
Paul
Roar Guru
is the answer to drop Kphli to 6, Gurlivleen? If India is looking ahead 4 years, Kohli will be 34, so nearing the end of his career(?). Apart from being the best batsman in the side, he's also the one most capable of shaping the innings, depending on how the game is going, exactly as Dhoni has done so well for so long. I also suspect India will find it much easier to replace numbers 3, 4 & 5, knowing Kohli's at 6, to steady the ship if the innings goes pear shaped. He can also move himself up the order if he thinks his presence at the crease is needed. The prevalence of T20 cricket in India is starting to hurt the side, with no obvious replacements who can either build an innings or hit out. There are some spectacular hitters but again, as India found last World Cup, there are crucial times when a batsman, not a hitter, is required. Kohli is the only one in that team who can fill that role.
Sahil Jain
Roar Rookie
True. Don't think the team can gain anything by continuing with Jadhav. Agree with the options you mentioned. There are a couple of players who haven't got opportunities but have consistently performed well in domestic cricket. Hence, it's going to be interesting to see what the selectors think and how they go ahead.
Gurlivleen Grewal
Roar Pro
Sahil, an insightful post. Paul also makes a good point that any team would also like a finisher like Dhoni of the old. To add to that a good team also needs 6 bowling options and not 5 which India is presently playing with – none of the other batters bowl at all! Jadhav should be shelved (he will be 38/39 by the next WC) and they ought to try other allrounders now. There are youngsters who can perform at 3 and Kohli should move to 4 to help them get into the role while also playing with those in the lower order. But that kind of leadership and thought is lacking from the Kohli-Shastri duo. I would like Iyer/Gill to bat 3. Pant at 5 followed by players of the mold of Jadhav/Raina (Like Jalaj Saxena, Nitish Rana, Suryakumar Yadav), followed by Pandya and Jadeja/Krunal Pandya/S.Gopal and the other bowlers. With the next WC in India, it would be prudent to get someone who bowls decent spin and groomed into the demanding batting role. Manish Pandey could be the other back up for the batting slot. Also if a couple of players are performing decently at 3, they become an automatic backup opener. I’ll come to the question of Rahul later. The present strategy seems to be – just continue with the same set of players, let Dhoni take the call on his career and then lo and behold – let the history repeat itself. Till 2018, they were trying to fit Raina again into the team, till 2017 Yuvi was playing despite being an objective failure since 2011 by all parameters. Expecting same treatment with Rahul now, I think he should be looked more as an alternative to Pant or in a wicketkeeping role – his batting otherwise leaves a lot to be desired. It doesn’t matter if he is a decent nick or not – he never seems to kick on in crunch games.
Paul
Roar Guru
I'm afraid I have to disagree Sahil. Dhoni was the rock upon which India built both high first innings scores and run chases. As we both know he was a master at judging what type of batting was required in any given situation and it was not until very recent times, that his ability failed to match that judgment. The issue India now faces is how to replace him and with whom. They could take the path you're suggesting with Pant & Pandiya as fixtures with perhaps Jadeja, but who plays a Dhoni type roll of these 3? IMO, India can't assume anything is "fixed" when it comes to middle order. Pant will keep wicket but can he turn into a Dhoni type, by curbing his natural instincts to hit, when the occasion demands? Is Pandiya a fixture given he's only a hitter and is that what India wants/needs at 6 or 7, especially given the quality of it's current bowling attack? Again, if I was an Indian selector, I'd be having a long chat with Kohli to see what direction he thought Indian batting needed to go, then making some decisions from there. Perhaps India simply goes with an attacking top 7 and hopes it will get the job done, but as we've seen in the World Cup, that only works most of the time, not all the time.
Sahil Jain
Roar Rookie
Agree with you! But a couple of those spots are mostly fixed. Pant will be there in the middle. When Hardik Pandya returns, he will walk back into the XI. And with Jadeja doing well, it's hard to leave him out. Hence, there is just one spot available. But yes, the selectors need to back a group of players and not chop and change too much.
Paul
Roar Guru
Sahil, I'm no expert on the Indian ODI side but I suspect the problem rested more on the shoulders of one guy - MS Dhoni. I realize he normally batted further down the order but his last 12 - 24 months in the national side put enormous pressure on the guys immediately above him, simply because he wasn't scoring runs fast enough. When he was the top of his game, Dhoni was as good a "finisher" as the ODI format has seen. In recent times though, he was a huge problem that no-one in Indian cricket was game to address. What the team needs to do is leave well enough alone at 1,2 & 3 then decide what they want to do with 4,5,6 & 7 - not just number 4. You named a number of players all good enough o be in the side and would probably walk into any other ODI team in world cricket, but the selectors need to get this part of the order settled post Dhoni and then let they play a lot together, not chop & change.