Right ahead of the World Cup, there have been calls for Virat Kohli to bat at No.4 in the Indian ODI XI. It is no time to move one of the greatest ODI No.3 around, writes Aadya Sharma.

With a month and a half to go for the World Cup, we are in an all too familiar territory: who will be India’s ODI No.4 is not entirely clear.

Four years ago, it was the debate of all debates. Ambati Rayudu, for many the rightful man for the job, was booted out of plans ahead of the 2019 World Cup. In came Vijay Shankar, before injury took him out. KL Rahul was tried at four until Shikhar Dhawan’s injury forced India to move Rahul up the order. Rishabh Pant, who hadn’t yet locked ten ODI appearances, eventually ended up at four mid-tournament.

And these weren’t the only names being floated around. Recently, former coach Ravi Shastri revealed that he wanted Virat Kohli to bat at four in that tournament. Ajinkya Rahane was certain he could have been the ideal No.4 for that team. Some suggested MS Dhoni for that spot.

Four years later, we are back to the same question. Since the start of 2021, India have tried a total of ten players at two-down in the ODI team. The situation has been compounded by Rishabh Pant’s accident, long-standing injuries to Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, and the surprising ineptness of some great players at that slot (read Suryakumar Yadav).

And so, India’s greatest ODI batter of his time is being looked at as the solution. AB de Villiers, Kohli’s long-time IPL teammate at Royal Challengers Bangalore, has called him “perfect for No.4” who can “put the innings together” and play “any kind of middle order role”.

Data, too, suggest Kohli would fit right in.

After No.3, Kohli has played at No.4 the most. In 39 innings, he has scored 1,767 runs at 55.21 and a strike rate of 91, just a shade under his overall ODI numbers. It includes seven centuries, including one of his best knocks in the format – the 86-ball 133 against Sri Lanka in the 2012 CB series. Mighty numbers.

But that Hobart knock was more than a decade ago. In the ten years since, he’s become an ODI legend, but most of that brilliance has come at No.3, a position where only Ricky Ponting has scored more runs, and Kohli is one of just two to score 10,000 runs.

More than any of the runs he has scored, Kohli’s identity as an ODI batter is best represented at No.3. It gives him the chance to access the powerplay fields if a wicket falls early, a useful cushion to have when you come in and get your eyes set. It also gives him the time to face more balls, and maximise the chance of going big if he gets a good start.

Kohli’s 50-to-100 conversion rate of 41.44 is the third best for any ODI batter with at least 2,000 runs.

Another aspect of a No.4 role is the likelihood of facing more spin in the middle overs, especially in a World Cup in India. At the outset, that shouldn’t worry an all-encompassing ODI great of Kohli’s calibre, but there seems to have been a slight dip in how he performs against spin.

Between 2017 and 2021, which overlapped partly with his best years in the format, he struck at 97 against spin, with a dot ball percentage of 34.8. Since last year, those numbers have changed to 89 and 39.2. At No.4, the dot ball percentage against spin goes up to 40.7. Mind you, spin will play a major role at this year’s World Cup, being held exclusively in India.

A counter-argument will be that a No.4 has more chance of batting more in the death overs, often dominated by quicks. In fact, his numbers past 35 overs in 18 innings at No.4 present a strike rate of 126 and a dot ball percentage of 34.4. Those numbers actually improve at No.3 (132 and 29.5).

Still, it needs to be considered that most of those No.4 numbers are outdated: Kohli hasn’t batted at four in three years.

Kohli was not at his best over the last three years – 2020 to 2022. There was no hundred, and though he batted well in patches, the same level of fluency, well-paced batting and conversion abilities were missing.

This year has been a breath of fresh air: his strike rate is 116 from nine innings, he averages 53.37, and has two hundreds. He has batted past the 35-over mark four times, and has struck at 174 in the last 15 overs, all of which have come at No.3.

For a player just getting back to his best, Kohli will certainly benefit more by staying put at his comfort zone of No.3, a position where he has batted 210 times in ODIs and constructed the finest bits of his fabulous career. It gives him more time at the start, to get his eye in and set the pace before the spinners come in; and more overs to shape the innings at his tempo, instead of being directed by the flow of the game.

Yes, injuries to Rahul and Iyer have put a question mark on the overall composition, but both are well on their way to full recovery and are set to play in the Asia Cup. Rahul, India’s proven No.5, is delayed due to a niggle, but Iyer should easily slot back into his preferred role at four.

For the vacant spot, India has three options in Tilak Varma, Suryakumar, and Ishan Kishan – in all probability a temporary occupancy, if at all.

With the World Cup so close, the best batters should be batting in their best positions as much as they can. Despite the uncertainty, Kohli shouldn’t be moving from his best spot, at least at this juncture. If he returns to being as good as once was, the rest of the bits will work out too.

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