Opinion: India doesn't have a No.4 conundrum

"Rayudu has taken his chance with both hands. We need to back him till the 2019 World Cup. He reads the game well, so we are happy that someone intelligent is batting at No. 4”.

This was Virat Kohli’s statement back in October 2018, after Ambati Rayudu had scored an 81-ball century against the West Indies in an ODI series. A lot has happened since that century six months ago. Rayudu now finds himself sharpening his Twitter game and adding ‘dimensions’ to his play, rather than preparing to be India’s number 4 at the World Cup. Poor chap.

What has that resulted in? The old question is back on everyone’s mind – Who will be India’s number 4 at the World Cup? With the squad that has been selected, the answer is fairly straightforward, though, for some reason, people are not talking about it as much.

There is talk of KL Rahul batting at number 3 allowing Kohli to drop to number 4. But why would you want to try such a maverick trick and that too at cricket’s most prestigious tournament?

There is talk of Vijay Shankar playing the role. This is a far more feasible option than the previous one but to be honest, there is no need for playing either KL Rahul or Vijay Shankar - at least not in the first couple of games.

Personally, I don’t think Kohli will go with either of these two options. If I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Dhoni batting at number 4. His exploits in this year’s IPL are there for everyone to see. More importantly, the nature of his game has so evolved that he is now, best suited at the number 4 position. He is no longer the swashbuckling batsman who could floor the accelerator from the get-go. That isn’t a problem as Hardik Pandya is quite capable of playing that role.

Dhoni 2.0 needs a few overs to get himself in and suss out the opposition, the conditions and most importantly, his game plan. Why not let the man do all that and more, batting at number 4? He gets the time to play himself in and India get someone to hold the innings together while everyone bats around him. It’s a win-win really.

For those who rely on statistics and data to be convinced, sample this – Dhoni averages 56.58 from 30 innings at number 4. That is slightly higher than his average of 52.19 from 79 innings at number 5 and significantly higher than his average of 46.33 from 126 innings at number 6. In the squad selected for the World Cup, no other batsman has a higher average at number 4 than Dhoni (yes, even Kohli averages a fraction lower at 56.48 from 38 innings at number 4).

What about 'recent form', you ask? Well, if the IPL is anything to go by, India’s top-3 have had a mixed tourney without really setting it on fire. Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik (who will probably bat at numbers 5 & 6 respectively) have had a pretty ordinary tournament with the former even getting injured.

Hardik Pandya is in red hot form which augurs well for the team as India will need his six-hitting skills to propel the team totals. Dhoni has been in fantastic form this IPL displaying his now-famous finishing skills on more occasions than once.

With the overall batting line-up in poor to moderate form, Pandya’s hitting and an in-form Dhoni at number 4 are absolutely critical if India expect to turn the dream into reality on July 14th at Lord’s.