3 times an Indian captain batted unusually out of position

India's batting order in the first ODI against the West Indies grabbed headlines, even as the visitors coasted to a five-wicket victory to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

With the hosts bowled out for a paltry 114 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, the Men in Blue decided to give the likes of Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya more time in the middle.

It saw skipper Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli bat much lower down the order than their usual spots of an opener and No. 3, respectively. In fact, Shardul Thakur batted before them with Rohit eventually batting at No. 7 and Kohli not getting to bat at all.

It wasn't the first time though that an Indian cricket captain batted unusually out of position. While it worked at times, it wasn't always the case for others.

Here, we document three instances of an Indian captain batting out of their usual batting spot over the years:

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#1 Rahul Dravid vs Bermuda, 2007 (ODI)

Rahul Dravid was happy to hold himself back against Bermuda in the 2007 World Cup (File image).

After the embarrassing defeat to Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup of 2007, India faced a must-win situation against Bermuda. Despite losing Robin Uthappa early, a second-wicket partnership of 202 runs between Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag put the Men in Blue on course for a massive score.

Rahul Dravid, the then-Indian captain, decided to hold himself and Sachin Tendulkar back, shoring up the hard-hitting MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh instead. The intention was clear - try and step on the accelerator to keep Bermuda at bay.

And it worked beautifully - while Dhoni managed a 25-ball 29 only, Yuvraj clubbed a 46-ball 83. Tendulkar walked in at No. 6 and remained unbeaten on 57 off 29 deliveries and when the time came, Dravid came out at No. 7.

He faced all of two deliveries but scored a six off the last ball of the innings as India posted a mammoth 413/5 before Bermuda folded for 156.

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#2 MS Dhoni vs Australia, 2008 (Test)

MS Dhoni promoted himself up the order in just his second Test as captain in 2008 (File image).

In the absence of Anil Kumble, MS Dhoni stepped into the captaincy shoes for the second Test against Australia in Mohali in 2008. He led the way with a superb 92 in the first innings which, alongside Ganguly's 102 and half-centuries from Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar, saw the hosts post 469 in the first innings.

Incidentally, Dhoni batted at No. 8 owing to Ishant Sharma being sent in as a night watchman on the opening day. After India took a 201-run lead, they chose not to enforce the follow-on as Gambhir and Virender Sehwag powered along to a partnership of 182.

Sehwag fell ten runs short of what would have been a superb hundred even as Gambhir went on to score one. Dhoni though, promoted himself up the order to No. 3 in place of Dravid in a bid to set up a timely declaration. The result was an unbeaten 84-ball 68 as India scored 314/3 in just 65 overs before declaring on Day 4.

The bowlers then rolled Australia over for 195 as India pocketed a 320-run win, with Dhoni bagging the Player of the Match award.

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#3 Harmanpreet Kaur vs Pakistan, 2022 (T20I)

The Women's Asia Cup in 2022 saw India experiment aplenty with their batting lineup to hand out opportunities to some of the younger players in the side. However, it backfired in the big game against Pakistan in a chase of 138 on a sluggish pitch.

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur held herself back with Dayalan Hemalatha, Pooja Vastrakar, and Deepti Sharma walking out to bat ahead of her. The Pakistani spinners orchestrated a collapse, however, leaving India in strife at 65/5 before Harmanpreet finally walked out to bat.

She steadied the ship in the company of Deepti before both batters fell in quick succession. Despite Richa Ghosh's best efforts, India fell short by 13 runs as they were bundled out for 124.

Harmanpreet not batting in her usual No. 4 spot backfired for the Women in Blue, even though they went on to clinch the Asia Cup by trouncing Sri Lanka in the final.

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What did you make of India shuffling their batting order around in the series opener against West Indies? Have your say in the comments section below!

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