Ravi Shastri, who was the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team when they participated at the 2019 ODI World Cup, has made an astonishing revelation. Shastri said that he considered playing the then captain Virat Kohli at the number 4 position during the World Cup in England. It is pertinent to note that while Kohli does bat at number 4 in Test matches, when it comes to white-ball cricket at the international level, it is the number 3 slot which he has made his own.
Having said that, Kohli did do well for India batting at number 4 when they won the World Cup in 2011. Overall too, his numbers at that slot are not that bad as he has accumulated 1767 runs from 39 matches at an average of 55.21. He made those runs with the help of seven centuries and eight half-centuries.
Shastri recalled that he even had a conversation with the then chief selector MSK Prasad about the idea of having Kohli at number 4 in that line up. He made these revelations during on Star Sports' Selection Day show.
"If Virat has to bat at four, he will bat at four in the interest of the side. You know, there were times I thought of it. Even in the previous two World Cups, when I was coach in 2019, I thought I might have discussed that with MSK as well of him batting at four just to break that top heavy line up," he said.
"You know, because if we lost two or three at the top, we were gone and it was proved so just for reaching that the experience. And if you look at Virat Kohli's record, he is good enough at number four," he added.
It would be interesting to see who manages to seal the number four slot for Asia Cup and ODI World especially with doubts over KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer's fitness and availability ahead of the marquee events.