ICC World Cup 2019: Why India should have given their Test specialist a chance at No.4

Over the past few years, Team India has performed exceptionally well across continents against every opposition in the limited-overs cricket and, without a doubt, is one of the favourites to win the cricket’s most prestigious trophy, the ICC World Cup for the 3rd occasion.

Though the Men in Blue may appear a well-settled unit from a distant with arguably the world’s best top 3 in form of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli along with lethal bowling attack with the rise of pacers Jaspreet Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, they are missing a very vital weapon in their armoury – The Middle Order!

ICC World Cup 2019
ICC World Cup 2019

With MS Dhoni coming in at No.5 along with hard-hitters like Kedar Jhadav, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya to follow, the No.4 slot has specifically been the area of concern for years now. Over the years, in the quest of discovering the ideal No. 4, the Indian selectors have consistently experimented with players.

Starting from the old warhorse Yuvraj Singh to India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, to the very experienced Dinesh Karthik to the new generation of Indian cricket, KL Rahul, Manoj Tiwary, Manish Pandey and legend MS Dhoni were given the opportunity. Unfortunately, despite having the potential none could really cement themselves at all-important No.4 slot.

In July 2018, Indian selectors unexpectedly brought back Ambati Rayudu after a gap of long 3 years, purely based on his excellent performance in the domestic circuit. And thankfully for Indian cricket, the veteran somewhat proved the selectors right with few matches winning performances but lacked consistency.

And now, with his poor run of form in ongoing home series against Australia, Team India once again appears to be searching for the very old answer. With less than 100 days remaining for the biggest cricketing tournament, the ICC World Cup 2019, the team management is still unsure about their No. 4 and whether they like it or not, they have to pursue with tried and tested – either Ambati Rayudu, KL Rahul or late boomer Vijay Shankar.

In hindsight, the selectors missed out on giving an opportunity to one reliable player that could have resolved India’s biggest worry ahead of the mega event – Cheteshwar Pujara.

Understandably, many cricket experts may have concerns over his strike rates in ODIs in today’s generation of 300+ runs however there are a lot more ways than just scoring runs fast that the Baroda player could have successfully contributed towards Team India’s success at the upcoming World Cup this summer.


Here are the 3 reasons why Cheteshwar Pujara could have been the ideal No.4 for Team India:

Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara

#1 Excellent batting technique

Though India’s opening pair – Rohit and Shikhar - has been a tremendous form for the past couple of years, they have always been vulnerable against swinging deliveries. Considering the tournament being played on seaming fast pitches in England, there is a good probability for a No.4 being on the crease within first 10 overs itself.

Unfortunately in the recent years, more often than not, Team India has ended up on a losing side when the top 3 failed to deliver a good start and Pujara with his solid batting technique could have provided the much-needed stability in such desperate situations.

Cheteshwar Pujara
Cheteshwar Pujara

#2 Experience

Once you are through the top order (top 3), apart from MS Dhoni (341 ODIs), there is no other batsman with close to 100 ODIs. In an intense tournament, experience plays a vital role and unfortunately, Team India lacks big time in that very aspect.

Pujara might not have played a lot of ODIs (5) but has been a regular part of India’s Test squad (68 Tests) for almost a decade and his experience in the middle order would have been an invaluable asset especially in the crunch situations.

#3 Batting form

Not many often, players outscore run-machine Virat Kohli in a Test match series. In just recently, concluded away series against Australia, Pujara was awarded Man of the Series award for his superlative series of innings scoring over 500 runs. The 31-year-old player was in sublime form and it was the opportunity to bring him back into limited over cricket.

Unfortunately, Pujara’s stable but much-needed slow paced test innings have unfortunately type-casted him exclusively a Test match player or else player with such caliber with few opportunities, could have emerged into just like his idol, Rahul.

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Edited by Aadya Sharma