I don’t want to disturb the top order – Sunil Gavaskar shares his opinion on India’s batting unit

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri had recently suggested that Virat Kohli can come in to bat at No.4 to length the team’s batting unit, when asked about how he looks at the Indian cricket team’s top order. However, now, India legend Sunil Gavaskar has shared his thoughts on the idea, mentioning that the call to play Kohli at the position will need to be more of a situational call.

Just to lay a bit of context to Ravi Shastri’s statement of sending Kohli at No.4, the former Indian captain’s numbers at that position reads 1767 runs from 42 matches at an average of 55.21 and also features seven staggering centuries.

However, Sunil Gavaskar had other ideas as he said, “Any team has to be flexible…but I don’t want to disturb the top order. I don’t think Rohit Sharma should be looking to bat down the order. Yes, you can look at having Kohli at No. 4, particularly, if a wicket falls early because the new ball can do some early damage.”

Talking to India Today, Gavaskar further said, “Every time India has lost, I think it’s that the fact the new ball in the first 10-12 overs, India have lost three or four wickets, and both wickets out of these wickets have been Sharma and Kohli, who’ve been the victims, so it’s difficult. Maybe, look at it depending on the situation.”

He concluded by talking about Rohit and Kohli bowling as the Indian captain jokingly said that the two may be seen bowling in Asia Cup, stating, “If they had been bowling quite regularly, yes, it could be good, but when you look at the successful teams in limited-overs cricket that have gone on to win championships.For India, you’ll find there have been full of all-rounders, batters who can bowl and bowlers down the order who’ve contributed when they get to bat about six or seven overs, they’ve contributed good runs.”