ICC World Cup 2019: Dilip Vengsarkar reveals surprise name as candidate for India's No. 4 spot

Former India batsman Dilip Vengsarkar has joined a host of former players giving an opinion on who should be India’s number four batsman for the upcoming World Cup in England and Wales. The much-talked-about spot has been India’s Achilles heels ever since Yuvraj Singh was dropped in the mid of 2017. Since then a host of players have been tried out including the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Dinesh Karthik and even Suresh Raina but without much success.

The latest to be tried out at that position was Ambati Rayudu who was recalled into the team after a two-year gap during last year’s Asia Cup. The start was promising as the veteran batsman impressed in India’s triumphant campaign in the UAE and the succeeding series against Windies at home. However, things have just not fallen into place this year. In the testing conditions of Australia and New Zealand,  his performance left a lot to be desired.

He then struggled in the home series against Australia too before being dropped from the playing eleven. Since then there has been a widespread debate on who should bat at number four in the World Cup. While some have backed Rayudu, some have suggested the likes of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and even Cheteshwar Pujara. Well, Vengsarkar has also come up with a surprising candidate, saying that he was surprised to see in-form Mayank Agarwal’s name being not in the mix.

“There are a lot of them who are good enough. KL Rahul or Ajinkya Rahane are good, then there is Mayank Agarwal who did so well in Australia. I am surprised that he is not around,” Vengsarkar said in an interview to The Times of India (TOI).

Agarwal has been one of the most consistent performers in the domestic circuit and recently made his Test debut during the Boxing Day Test against Australia.

India’s chances:

Vengsarkar also predicted India’s fate in the World Cup, saying that the Men in Blue have the best bowling attack. “India have a chance to reach the last four. We have the best (bowling) attack so far. If we compare our attack to the previous teams at the World Cup, this is better than ever.

That’s why we have hope. When India did badly, it was because of the last 10 overs where we were unable to contain the rival batsmen. Now, with Bumrah and the others, it’s formidable,” said Vengsarkar who was part of the team that won the World Cup in 1983.

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