|| Desk Report ||

India had lost to New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 ODI World Cup at Old Trafford despite having a strong quality batting and bowling unit. Since then there were many reasons came up about what went wrong during the mega event. Notably, they had ended their group stage at the top of the table.

India’s top-order failed to stay long in the middle as well as the middle order. And the pressure fell upon MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to reach the finish line. But the hope ended when Dhoni was run-out. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has explained that it was the number 4 spot that troubled India over the years.

“What we need to look at is to have somebody at 4, 5 and 6 who are very good batsmen, who would otherwise bat at the top but because 1, 2 and 3 are occupied they are batting in the middle-order. We made a mistake by not having a proper No. 4 at the 2019 World Cup. If we had had a proper No. 4 for the World Cup then it might have been a completely different story,” Gavaskar told India Today.

He recalled, “India’s top-3 batting lineup is such a fabulous batting lineup that often it has happened that numbers 4 and 5 at the initial stages of the World Cups haven’t got the opportunity to play long innings, to get their eye in. Suddenly when your top-3 are dismissed cheaply, and that can happen in the odd match, unfortunately for India, it has happened in a knockout game and that is where number 4, 5 and 6 haven’t been able to cope with the loss of your earlier prolific batsmen.”

Meanwhile, Suresh Raina, who recently announced his retirement from international cricket, also claimed that Ambati Rayudu was the best choice for India at the position and if he would be there, India would have won the World Cup as well.