new delhi,aug 24
There have been detailed discussions regarding India’s 2019 World Cup campaign for over a year. India were one of the favourites to win the title in England after an incredible run in the last few years. The team under the leadership of Virat Kohli finished at the top of the table after the group stage. It looked India would be heading to the finals after the bowlers reduced New Zealand to 240 in the semifinals.But it all came crashing down from there. The top-order failed, the middle order couldn’t do much and it was left to MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja to reignite the Indian hopes. But the contest ended when Dhoni was uncharacteristically run-out.Whenever a debate takes place regarding the World Cup, the conversation turns towards team management’s inability to get a settled no.4 batsman in place. Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar also agrees that India made a mistake by not having a proper no.4 batsman.“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.“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.
Suresh Raina, who recently retired from international cricket, also reckons that Rayudu was the best choice for India at the number four slot and even believes the Men in Blue would have won the World Cup if he was in the squad.“He was good at number four.
