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Should Virat Kohli bat at #4 in the World Cup?

Should Virat Kohli bat at #4 in the World Cup?

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    12
Bhaijaan

Bhaijaan

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At the moment it seems like a logical answer to India's middle order batting issues.

Post world cup, he could get back at #3 but i feel with Kohli at 1 down, India's middle order looks a lot more worrying.

Bhaijaan's batting line-up for the cup:-

Sharma
Dhawan
Rahul
Kohli
DK
Pandya
Dhoni


Against Australia, England, RSA it's logical to bring in Jadeja/Jadhav's spin but nonetheless i'd have Chahl/Kuldeep locked in for all matches. They bowl when they bowl together.
 
[MENTION=93712]MenInG[/MENTION] - Could we please add a poll. Thanks
 
No need now, only bowler who could remove their Top 3 in matter of few balls is not playing the World Cup.

Also, Virat Kohli at Number 3 has developed into one of the best batsman ever. No need to experiment now, his impact will be reduced if he comes lower than that and could cost India.
 
freelance_cricketer said:
At the moment it seems like a logical answer to India's middle order batting issues.

Post world cup, he could get back at #3 but i feel with Kohli at 1 down, India's middle order looks a lot more worrying.

Bhaijaan's batting line-up for the cup:-

Sharma
Dhawan
Rahul
Kohli
DK
Pandya
Dhoni


Against Australia, England, RSA it's logical to bring in Jadeja/Jadhav's spin but nonetheless i'd have Chahl/Kuldeep locked in for all matches. They bowl when they bowl together.
Click to expand...

India is not going to win a WC where 330+ will be par by having a line-up with 4 guys who are useless batsmen.

Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Shami will not play together. India avoids it because they know how acute the batting depth issue is.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
No need now, only bowler who could remove their Top 3 in matter of few balls is not playing the World Cup.

Also, Virat Kohli at Number 3 has developed into one of the best batsman ever. No need to experiment now, his impact will be reduced if he comes lower than that and could cost India.
Click to expand...

in a few balls? In the last 2 encounters, the same Star bowler bowled 20 long overs against the same Top 3 minus Kohli and couldn't pick a wicket despite huffing and puffing! :))
 
Kohli should have permanently batted at 4 after CT. No point playing him at 4 this world cup. We haven't developer another number 3.
 
Tyler Durden said:
in a few balls? In the last 2 encounters, the same Star bowler bowled 20 long overs against the same Top 3 minus Kohli and couldn't pick a wicket despite huffing and puffing! :))
Click to expand...

Read it again, if you don't understand before huffing and puffing yourself.

I never said he will do it every time, rather he has done it before and could do it again, especially in England. I have never seen any bowler remove those 3 like that, in the time I have followed Indian cricket, which albeit is very little.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
Read it again, if you don't understand before huffing and puffing yourself.

I never said he will do it every time, rather he has done it before and could do it again, especially in England. I have never seen any bowler remove those 3 like that, in the time I have followed Indian cricket, which albeit is very little.
Click to expand...

With 340 on the board, plenty of bowlers can do that.
 
He should stay at 3. India made a mistake by not backing a younger player at 4 after the CT.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
With 340 on the board, plenty of bowlers can do that.
Click to expand...

How can you say something which never has happened?

Ok then let me try, if pitch is extremely batting friendly Bumrah
can score a 100.

Cats will fly, rabbits will swim in near future.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
How can you say something which never has happened?

Ok then let me try, if pitch is extremely batting friendly Bumrah
can score a 100.

Cats will fly, rabbits will swim in near future.
Click to expand...

The likes of Starc, Rabada and Boult can easily do much better than the golden boy if there is movement on offer. There's a greater chance of rabbits swimming than Aamir being a threat with the ball at this point .

You acted as if a fragile middle order is alright for India since this guy Aamir is not playing. Forget Aamir, the entire Pakistani bowling lineup struggled to take out our openers in two matches in the Asia Cup. Based on the evidence , India need Kohli at 4 for teams that actually have competent bowlers like Australia,NZ etc. Not for hapless bowling attacks that struggle to even complete against an Indian batting lineup without Kohli. :))
 
Last edited:
Nikhil_cric said:
The likes of Starc, Rabada and Boult can easily do much better than the golden boy if there is movement on offer. There's a greater chance of rabbits swimming than Aamir being a threat with the ball at this point .

You acted as if a fragile middle order is alright for India since this guy Aamir is not playing. Forget Aamir, the entire Pakistani bowling lineup struggled to take out our openers in two matches in the Asia Cup. Based on the evidence , India need Kohli at 4 for teams that actually have competent bowlers like Australia,NZ etc. Not for hapless bowling attacks that struggle to even complete against an Indian batting lineup without Kohli. :))
Click to expand...

So what if some bowler can do better than him, we were never talking about that. Still, these great bowlers including ones from India were completely toothless throughout the CT.

Secondly, there was nothing on offer on that June 18 pitch yet some batsmen were made to struggle like no tomorrow whatever the target was, even Zimbabwe B would have fared better.

I forgot the World Cup is in UAE, let's keep talking about the Asia Cup and again before saying something, let these awesome Australian and New Zealand bowlers perfom in UAE against a good batting lineup before making adjustments for them.

In my first post, I clearly told another point why Kohli should remain at 3 but you Indians got your knickers in twist looking at the first point, that you are now resorting to lies.

I hope Kohli dosen't play then, becuase we saw what happened last time he did.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
So what if some bowler can do better than him, we were never talking about that. Still, these great bowlers including ones from India were completely toothless throughout the CT.

Secondly, there was nothing on offer on that June 18 pitch yet some batsmen were made to struggle like no tomorrow whatever the target was, even Zimbabwe B would have fared better.

I forgot the World Cup is in UAE, let's keep talking about the Asia Cup and again before saying something, let these awesome Australian and New Zealand bowlers perfom in UAE against a good batting lineup before making adjustments for them.

In my first post, I clearly told another point why Kohli should remain at 3 but you Indians got your knickers in twist looking at the first point, that you are now resorting to lies.

I hope Kohli dosen't play then, becuase we saw what happened last time he did.
Click to expand...

There's a world of difference between doing well in the UAE and being thrashed like minnows. However, let's see how Aamir does in the England series prior to the World Cup on pitches that are going to be flat.
 
Yup, it was fluke bowling that the best batsman in the world was made clueless about on consecutive deliveries.

Also, I agree a bowler that was considered the best and most difficult to face by someone I can't remember, won't get top 3 of Zimbabwe.

Every player goes through bad form, Amir still is one of the best in Test and T20Is.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
Yup, it was fluke bowling that the best batsman in the world was made clueless about on consecutive deliveries.

Also, I agree a bowler that was considered the best and most difficult to face by someone I can't remember, won't get top 3 of Zimbabwe.

Every player goes through bad form, Amir still is one of the best in Test and T20Is.
Click to expand...
[MENTION=148927]Hyperion66[/MENTION]
 
Kohli would still do fine at #4.

But losing Kohli in a big match opening spell to opposition swing bowler is a set back this middle order has not proven capable of balancing out.

This is not 2011, where Kohli/Yuvraj/Raina/Dhoni could bail India out with ease.

The ground reality of 2019 is that after our Top 3, there is not much hope in that line-up.
 
Amir in CT final was not a fluke. It was just a capable swing bowler making life uneasy for vulnerable right handers backed by pressure of a huge total.

He had troubled India in couple of matches in before CT. Once in the 2014 ICC world cup and the T20 Asia Cup before that.

It could be Trent Boult or David Willey on another day.

India's right handed top order remains vulnerable to left hand swing bowlers bringing it back in.
 
Hyperion66 said:
Bhai Amir's entire career is bad form bar a few fluke performances here and there. SSA already is a far bigger threat to batsmen than Amir ever was and ever will be.
Click to expand...

How can you say that? Amir has always performed in Tests outside UAE(where every Fast bowler barring Abbas has struggled) and T20Is, also he is one of the most economical bowler in ODIs currently and used to take regular wickets until CT 2017.

Also, your last statement is wrong. SSA can never reach the level Amir had in 2010. Irrespective of the pitches, he could swing the ball both ways at 150 Kph. I am not sure any bowler can do that nowadays.
 
Arsalan Pro said:
How can you say that? Amir has always performed in Tests outside UAE(where every Fast bowler barring Abbas has struggled) and T20Is, also he is one of the most economical bowler in ODIs currently and used to take regular wickets until CT 2017.

Also, your last statement is wrong. SSA can never reach the level Amir had in 2010. Irrespective of the pitches, he could swing the ball both ways at 150 Kph. I am not sure any bowler can do that nowadays.
Click to expand...

Irrespective of pitches? Both ways at 150kph?
 
I had a written about it in a seperate thread. This a good idea (Kohli batting at 4) but it should be conditional. Kohli is our main batsman and he getting out quickly meaning 90% game over for India. We all know Kohli still has few weakness against moving balls and if ball is swinging, India lost an early wicket...no harm in sending extra opener (Rahul) at 3.

If we bat first - Kohli always bats at 3.

Openers gave a good start while chasing - Kohli at 3.

Only when we are chasing steep target, we lose an early wicket - Rahul bats at 3.

Rahul if dont bat at top 3...has no utility at all. Kohli is a master in picking ones/twos and still can be very handy at 4.
 
Your best batsman should bat in the top 3 and it’s exactly why ABD should have taken more responsibility batting at 3. Likewise Misbah (who was in good form), should have done in the last WC rather than hide down at 4, knowing his top 3 were incompetent (or inexperienced in the case of Haris Sohail).
 
Arsalan Pro said:
How can you say that? Amir has always performed in Tests outside UAE(where every Fast bowler barring Abbas has struggled) and T20Is, also he is one of the most economical bowler in ODIs currently and used to take regular wickets until CT 2017.

Also, your last statement is wrong. SSA can never reach the level Amir had in 2010. Irrespective of the pitches, he could swing the ball both ways at 150 Kph. I am not sure any bowler can do that nowadays.
Click to expand...

When did he do this?
 
No. I would rather play Dhoni at #4 who with his SR in 60s has no utility later.

Kohli is the greatest #3 batsman in the history of ODI cricket, the entire batting unit can be sacrificed to keep him at that position.
 
For 2023 WC:-

Shaw
Rohit
Kohli
Gill
Pant(wkt)
______
Pandya
______
Kuldeep
Shami
Bumrah
 
Did you people not learn anything from having Sachin Tendulkar bat in the middle order?

You can start looking for another number 3 when Kohli turned 33/34.
 
Yes and Bumrah should bowl left arm since we don't have left arm pacer
 
Rohit
Dhawan
Kohli
KL Rahul

I think this line up gives India the ability to chase down any score an opposition could throw at them, because the talent in those 4 is already superior than almost any other batting line up in the tournament
 
Kohli batted at no.4 for a good part of his career ,so it wont be anything new for him.
He is a mentally tough guy and is the only one capable enough to adjust to no.4 both mentally and technically ,rahul is mentally weak but talented and if he gets going our team will become unbeatable.
 
hashimafzal said:
Rohit
Dhawan
Kohli
KL Rahul

I think this line up gives India the ability to chase down any score an opposition could throw at them, because the talent in those 4 is already superior than almost any other batting line up in the tournament
Click to expand...

KL has failed at 4. He will bat there only in emergency or if our kaptaap gets one his 'special' episode.
 
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