"KL Rahul ideal to be played at No.4," says Sourav Ganguly
What's the story
Even if the whole world seems to be at doubt on who to bat at No.4 for India after all the recent downfall in standards, former Indian captain and one of the greats of the game Sourav Ganguly is not one among them. The "Dada" of the Indian cricket team has picked KL Rahul to bat at No.4, "eyes closed".
In case you didn't know...
The Indian captain Virat Kohli had admitted at the end of the unsuccessful ODI series, that an unsettled middle order was one of the few concerns for the side as they prepare for the World Cup. With three openers well in form and with in-form middle order batsman Ambati Rayudu failing to clear the yo-yo tests that has been made mandatory for selection, Kohli and co. has a host of things to fix if they want to take the coveted trophy back home next year.
Earlier this week, a really uninspired performance from the Indian side resulted in them succumbing to the host England's 2 - 1 drubbing of the ODI series, where England came back from losing the first game to sealing the series with two straight wins. England's performance with both bat and ball were lauded as they looked well-set as a team moving forward.
The details
Ganguly was quick to point out that playing KL Rahul at two-down would ease the pressure on MS Dhoni, who would then go back to his No.6 position. But that was not all, he also stressed on the imperative need for the 37-year old veteran batsman to "start hitting" in the No.6 position.
Ganguly has always been of the opinion that the top-four players in the batting line-up has to be the best batsmen of the team. He repeated the same point while speaking to Sony Pictures Network, and added that the team has to persist with them. While India has a strong top-three in Rohit, Dhawan and Kohli, Ganguly feels that India needed a number-four and that Rahul was the best to fill the lot right now.
"Go and speak to KL Rahul and say I'll give you 15 games, just go and play," Ganguly said. "India need a No. 4. MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik are very good at five, six and seven. But a top class player has to be at four."
Ganguly seems to be under the inclination that the team management "isn't looking after their best batsmen properly" and isn't sending out the right message with the constant chopping and changing. It is apparent that he was implying the prolonged absence of Ajinkya Rahane from the squad apart from the intermittent benching of KL Rahul, despite both players having enough skill and qualifications to become sizeable No.4 options.
"I'm not saying it's deliberate, maybe it's a mistake, maybe you look at it differently from the other side. From this side, I feel those two have to play at four, else it's too much of pressure on Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli. In South Africa, you won, Kohli got three hundreds in six games. If Kohli doesn't get a hundred, you will find it difficult to win matches."
With just a few months remaining before the 2019 Cricket World Cup kicks in, India's instability becomes a huge liability. And the instability factor is not limited to India's No.4 woes alone.
Ganguly was also vocal on a "struggling MS Dhoni" who was clearly failing to produce the big impact that was expected of him when promoted up the order. After two really-slow innings that perhaps played a role in India's below-par scores, Ganguly sees the need for MSD to play more aggressively. A good pair of players at No.4 and No.5, MSD at 6 and Hardik Pandya at 7 is what he sees to be ideal.
What's next
India's focus, as does England's, will now shift to red-ball cricket as the five-match Test series between the two nations will go underway starting August 1st. Rishabh Pant and Kuldeep Yadav is expected to make their Test debut in the series. Limited-over games and No.4 woes will stay out of the picture for a month-long period now, as the visitors look to bury their demons of downfalls in England with a hopeful series win.