Virat Kohli explains why he didn’t promote lower middle order batsmen higher up the order

Several questions were raised during India vs West Indies One Day International series, the biggest one being why the bench strength was not put to use against a relatively weaker opponent. Some asked justification for giving longer ropes to underperforming senior players when a talented youngster like Rishabh Pant waited on the wings. However, after the 3-1 series win, Kohli put to rest all the answers in the post match conference.

Kohli feels that no team playing international cricket can be taken lightly, irrespective of their recent debacles or rankings on the ICC ODI chart. Some people opined that hitters like Hardik Pandya or Kedar Jadhav should have been given a batting promotion ahead of their slot since Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni were not quite up to their mark. But Kohli gave clarification for that in the post match conference.

“You can’t make a Hardik [Pandya] or Kedar [Jadhav] bat at No. 3 and 4 and make your top-order batsman bat lower down. It’s still international cricket and you have to be respectful towards oppositions and whatever games that you play and it’s very important to understand what works for you as a team and you’ve got to keep sticking to it. We keep giving them confidence and both guys are very eager to make dents, which they have in the past, and we’re very confident of their abilities and we’re actually delighted to have found two lower order batsmen who can play that explosive cricket.” Kohli told reporters.

Will the underperforming middle order step up? 

India’s upcoming ODI assignments are against Sri Lanka later this month, Australia in October and South Africa in January. All these teams being good forces in international cricket, West Indies was perhaps Kohli’s best chance at experimenting. But looks like he is confident of a certain Yuvraj or Dhoni bouncing back to form. Even Shikhar Dhawan, who was the highest run-getter in Champions Trophy 2017, failed to make a mark in the ODI series in the Caribbean. Kohli has a lot of issues to address.