5 cricketers who can solve India's number 4 conundrum
The Indian team is considered as one of the finest teams in white ball cricket, and very rightfully so. Virat Kohli's trusted warriors are extremely skillful and hence have received the favorites' tag for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Yet, the recently concluded ODI series against England threw light to one glaring problem.
The Indian batting order, with all its gigantic names like the Kohlis and the Sharmas, lack a player for an extremely important position in ODI cricket - the number 4. When it comes to T20Is, the skipper does a commendable job, as he did against England with two 40+ scores in 3 matches. However, things change when it comes to ODI as Kohli returns to usual number 3 position.
India used the man in sublime form, KL Rahul in number 4, but it did not work. They tried to invest faith in Dinesh Karthik, but he only gave 21 runs in return. Hence, the number 4 conundrum is something that needs to be addressed as soon as possible, and BCCI can try these 5 players to solve the problem:
#5 Mayank Agarwal
The first name amongst the five might not be very convincing, but his recent numbers surely are. Mayank Agarwal had a great domestic season, which brought him into the scheme of things for the umpteenth time. However, the let that glorious chance slip away with a poor IPL season.
But he has proved his caliber in the recently concluded tri-series against Windies A and England Lions. In 4 games, he scored 287 runs at a staggering average of over 70. His strike rate of over 105 was equally impressive. Agarwal is not predominantly a middle-order player but is versatile enough to be tested in the number 4 slot.