It’s been a long time that team India has been struggling to find a suitable player for the No.4 slot in ODI cricket. A number of players like KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik have been tried. But none of them was consistent. The skipper Virat Kohli feels that Ambati Rayudu is the right pick at the moment.
Rayudu had played in the Asia Cup 2018 at No.3 where Kohli was rested for the tournament. Now that Kohli is back against the Windies at No.3, Rayudu will shift to No.4. The captain reckons the 33-year-old needs to be given enough time at the position so that he settles for the World Cup next year.
Rayudu is designed to play in the middle-order: Virat Kohli
“The only position we were trying to figure out was number four for a long time. We tried many players who unfortunately could not capitalize or cement their places in a way we wanted. With Rayudu coming in and playing well in the Asia Cup, it’s about giving him enough game time till the World Cup so that the particular slot will be sorted for us,” said Virat Kohli.
Kohli was addressing the media on the eve of the first ODI against Windies and told that Rayudu is the right person as his style suits the middle-order. Rayudu has played plenty of games in the IPL and has a lot of experience batting in the middle-order.
“The team felt it there, and I also watched him. He (Rayudu) is designed to play that middle order batsman’s role. We feel that our middle-order is more or less balanced now,” Kohli said. “We believe he is the right person to capitalize on that spot. He is experienced and has won many games for his state and also in the IPL. He has a great ODI record already for India. I think the batting order is sorted.”
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