No. 4 slot a pressing issue for India going ahead, says Krishnamachari Srikkanth

The Indian team has always known to be a batting dominated side. With a plethora of options in the batting lineup, India boasts of a good batting depth in limited-overs cricket. However, a persistent concern still remains for a suitable player to fill in the void at the No.4 slot.

In the ongoing tour of South Africa, the problem has been very vivid. The team management faced a tricky selection dilemma regarding the batting order during the ODI leg of the series. Manish Pandey, however, has performed the duty quite well in the T20series. The Karnataka cricketer sparkled with an unbeaten 79 in the second fixture, although ended up on the losing side.

While the Virat Kohli-led side etched history by registering their maiden series win in the rainbow nation, it overshadows India’s underlying batting problem. With the 2019 World Cup just a year to go, it will be of utmost importance to address the problem, as the core of the team has more or less started shaping up.

Speaking on the same lines, former India legend, Krishnamachari Srikkanth opined that this chronic problem has cost India precious matches. The 58-year-old believes the Men in Blue could have saved the first Test at Cape Town had the batting debacle didn’t take place. Srikanth blames the lack of a consolidated player for the No4 slot who can provide stability and steer the team away from such precarious situations.

Srikkanth opens up on the matter in his column

In his column for Times of India, Srikkanth wrote, “One of the key areas of concern is the consistency factor with the middle-order and to an extent the form of the opening batsmen in red-ball cricket. The first Test at Cape Town was in our pocket and we should have won it easily. The defeat was due to the batting debacle and it hurt us badly. The openers didn’t fire in all the Tests and it has to be addressed going forward.”

He further adds, “While the openers turned things around in the shorter formats, the middle-order, apart from Kohli, has been very inconsistent across all formats. Yes, there have been a couple of sparkling performances here and there from a few middle-order batsmen. However, consistency is lacking and it is vital to have a solid middle-order, which is the backbone of any side. It’s a worrying sign and it has to be looked into so that we can notch up more victories abroad.”