It will be a silly thing for India to push Virat Kohli down the order: Ajit Agarkar

Ever since India head coach Ravi Shastri stated that Virat Kohli could be demoted to number four in the upcoming World Cup if the situations demand so, there has been a huge debate over it. Not only the fans but the former players have also opined on the topic. The latest to give his views on the much-talked-about topic is former India all-rounder Ajit Agarkar. His comments came just a day after Kohli himself opened up on the possibility of batting at number four in England.

As of now, India have been trying out Ambati Rayudu at number four and the veteran batsman has done reasonably well so far. However, it is his inconsistencies that have perhaps not convinced the team-management yet that he is the man to end India’s long search for a reliable number four batsman. And Shastri made it more or less clear that Kohli can take responsibility on his own shoulders if the team needs him to.

However, Agarkar is against the notion. The ex-India cricketer backed his claim by pointing out Kohli’s stunning stats while playing at number three. Kohli has amassed a staggering 10,533 runs in his illustrious career at an average of 59.50 which includes 39 centuries. 32 out of those 39 tons have come at number three where he has scored more than 8,000 runs. His record at number four, however, is equally impressive.  Kohli has scored his remaining seven tons at number four where he has scored 1744 runs an impressive average of 58.13.

“Those numbers tell you the story – 32 hundreds at No.3. And yeah, the numbers still are good at No.4. But still, not at all. Why would you push your best batsman lower down the order when most of his career, the greatness that he has achieved at No.3 and he sets up the game or finishes off the game for India at that number.

He is right in saying that I don’t mind batting at No.4, but I feel it will be a silly thing for India to push Kohli down the order. And not for batting KL Rahul at No.3. The top three are the reason why India are doing so well in one-day cricket. In middle-order, there are a few worries,” Agarkar told ESPNCricinfo.

‘My game doesn’t change’:

While Agarkar seems to be unimpressed with the idea of changing Kohli’s batting spot, the man himself seems to have no problem with it.

“I’ve batted a lot of times at number four. I don’t necessarily try it out as I’ve done that a lot in the past. My game doesn’t change much from number three to four because the template is quite similar. In any given situation I try to play the game I know,” Kohli told reporters before the first ODI against Australia in Hyderabad.

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