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Sunil Gavaskar wants ‘more flexibility’ in Indian batting, Ravi Shastri agrees
India’s top-four in fifty-over format is almost set as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan open the innings for the ‘Men in Blue’ followed by Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu.
Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar feels Indian batting line-up must be more flexible in order to counter the bowlers during crunch moment in a match.
India’s top-four in fifty-over format is almost set as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan open the innings for the ‘Men in Blue’ followed by Virat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu.
Citing example of the disastrous Champions Trophy 2017 final loss at the hands of Pakistan, Gavaskar said that India’s batting should be more flexible, depending up on the condition and situation.
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“There needs to be flexibility. More the flexibility in the batting line-up, more beneficial to the team,” Gavaskar told Aaj Tak.
“Let’s look at what happened in the Champions Trophy final. Rohit Sharma was dismissed by Mohammed Aamir early. When Virat Kohli came out to bat, the ball was swinging quite a bit. Pakistan were pumped up after having put 300 on the board.”
India head coach Ravi Shastri seemed to agree with Gavaskar’s opinion as in a different interview he stated that a team should have flexibility in a big tournament like a World Cup.
Citing necessary balance in the team, Shastri said they are prepared to change the batting position of players including that of skipper Virat Kohli, who has become the best in the world while batting at number three.
“The good thing about this Indian top-three is we can separate them, if conditions and situations demand,” Shastri told Cricbuzz.
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“Someone like Virat Kohli can go to number four, and we can put a good number three to bring more balance to the batting line-up. That’s flexibility for you, and for big tournaments like the World Cup, you have to be flexible to see what’s the best balance for the side. So we will decide that (according to the situation at the World Cup).”
