Virat Kohli may bat at No.4 in ODI World Cup 2019

India head coach Ravi Shastri wants Virat Kohli to slide down to No. 4 and Ambati Rayudu to bat in his place which Shastri believes will provide more stability to the Indian batting line-up in ODI World Cup 2019.

In what could turn out to be a major shuffle in India’s batting line-up for ODI World Cup 2019, head coach Ravi Shastri said he is considering the possibilities of separating the top three of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli. Shastri is mulling sending the Indian captain at No. 4 to strengthen the middle order and solve the crisis once and for all.

"The good thing about this Indian top-three is we can separate them if conditions and situations demand. Someone like Virat Kohli can go to number four, and we can put a good number three to bring more balance to the batting line-up," Shastri told Cricbuzz.

Shastri’s comments are bound to raise a few eyebrows as Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli form one of the strongest top-orders in ODIs. The three together have scored 11 ODI hundreds in 2018 alone. To put their effort into perspective, only England as a team have more hundreds(13) than India’s top-order in 2018. None of the other teams have 10-plus hundreds during that period.

But Shastri believes the flexibility of the Indian side is one of their biggest strengths.

"That's flexibility for you, and for big tournaments like the World Cup, you have to be flexible to see what's the best balance for the side. So we will decide that (accordingly in England).

"We will assess that on seeing conditions there in England. You don't want to be 18-3 or 16-4 in a big tournament. I don't care about bilateral ODIs, but why should I lose my best batsman early in a World Cup match (if the conditions are bowler friendly)?" he added.

Ambati Rayudu showed his prowess with a match-winning 90 at the Hamilton ODI and Shastri said he can be an option at number three.

"Yes, maybe Rayudu, or someone else, could bat at number three, and Kohli comes in at number four. We wouldn't want to disturb the opening combination. Separating the top-three could make the batting stronger."

Shastri said Rayudu's innings eased his worries to an extent and his unorthodox style of batting can be an X factor for the team.

"... the one quality Rayudu has, he can be very unorthodox. With the way he bats, he can be an x-factor for us. He will play shots that are unconventional at times, but they can be very effective," he said.

"The more he plays like this (like at Wellington), the more he will realise he can do that to the opposition."