Most successful No. 3 batsmen for India in ODIs

Where does 'The Wall' rank in this list?

Batting at the number 3 slot in any match is a big gamble in itself. You could end up facing the second ball of the innings or wait for almost 25 overs more to face your first delivery. Along with the batsman that immediately follows them at No.4, they have the utmost responsibility of providing stability to the team and keeping the scoreboard ticking at the same time. The position that has been holy grail of all time greats like Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara and Jacques Kallis is now the permanent batting slot for modern greats like Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Steve Smith.

India, over the years, has produced some of the best batsmen who have batted at number 3 in One Day Internationals. With Virat Kohli continuing that lineage, we take a look at India's most successful batsmen at the number 3 slot.

#6 Gautam Gambhir

His batting at number 3 was vital in India's 2011 World Cup campaign. — His batting at number 3 was vital in India's 2011 World Cup campaignOne-half of India's most formidable opening pair in Test matches along with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir has had a memorable stint at the top of the batting order in all formats of the game. However, the presence of limited over legends in Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag at the top of the order meant that Gambhir had to bat one down for a significant part of his limited overs career.

In 48 of his 143 ODI innings, the Delhi opener came in to bat at the loss of the first wicket and scored a total of 1810 runs at an average of 42.09. Gambhir's batting at number 3 was the brightest spot in India's 2011 World Cup victorious squad, where he played arguably the best innings of his ODI career - 97 in the World Cup finals against Sri Lanka. Although he has been out of the Indian team for quite some time now, Gambhir was a reliable batsman during his prime.