The only way that can happen is if KL Rahul doesn’t get fit: Ravichandran Ashwin on Ravi Shastri’s Virat Kohli at No. 4 comment | Cricket News
Former India coach Ravi Shastri had recently weighed in India’s number 4 position conundrum when he suggested that Virat Kohli can bat there if need be. “If Virat has to bat at four, he will bat at four in the interest of the side. You know, there were times I thought of it,” Shastri had said in a chat on Star Sports’ Selection Day show.
Now, veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has given his own two cents on the topic, saying that Kohli can only be slotted in that position if KL Rahul does not play.
“Virat Kohli batted at number 4 in that (2011) World Cup. In fact, Ravi Bhai has mentioned that, if necessary, Virat Kohli should bat at number 4. I think he mentioned that so that we can accommodate a left-hander. The only way that can happen is if KL Rahul doesn’t get fit, and when they need a keeper, they can open with Ishan Kishan. That’s the only possibility because Shreyas Iyer is one of the go-to players for Team India in ODIs as a batter,” he said in his YouTube channel.
Earlier, citing Kohli’s record at number four, where the star Indian batter scored 1767 runs at an average of 55.21 with seven hundreds, Shastri had said that he wanted the top four to be flexible and Kohli was willing to bat wherever the team needed him.
Shastri also said that he would not include Rahul in the playing eleven for the Asia Cup as it would be asking for “too much” from a player who has not played competitive cricket for close to four months.Most Read
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Both Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, who are undergoing injury rehabilitation at the NCA in Bengaluru, are expected to regain full fitness before the Asia Cup starting August 31.
“When you are talking of a player who has not played and is recovering from injury. To think of him in the playing eleven of Asia Cup, you are asking little too much of the player himself.
“And then you are talking keeping when the guy has come from a knee injury, the range of movement, things like (that). That is a no, no straight,” Shastri had said.
