“Where should Virat Kohli bat?”- Aakash Chopra opines after Ravi Shastri suggests no.4 spot for premier batter

India is to play Asia Cup 2023 from September 2nd and World Cup from October 8 onwards.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra shared his thoughts on where Virat Kohli should bat in the Indian batting order after Ravi Shastri said that the former captain should come out at the no.4 spot in the Asia Cup and World Cup tournaments.

The tournament begins on August 30 and India will play its first match against Pakistan on September 2^nd in Kandy, Sri Lanka. They will then face off against Nepal on September 4^th at the same venue.

On the other hand, the ICC World Cup begins on October 5 in India and the Men in Blue will play Australia on October 8^th in Chennai in their first encounter of the tournament.  

The Men in Blue side is currently in Bengaluru undergoing a preparatory camp before the continental tournament.

While sharing his opinion on the no.4 spot for the Indian team, Ravi Shastri suggested a radical move of demoting stalwart Virat Kohli to the No.4 spot. It is a position that Kohli used to play regularly in the early part of his career in ODI cricket before he came to be recognized as arguably the best No.3 batter in the world. No.4 is also where Kohli plays for India in Test cricket.   

However, Aakash Chopra disagreed with Shastri’s suggestion, saying playing Kohli at 4 will give the opposition the advantage.

"Where should Virat bat? Everything has two or three sides to it. The first thing is, assuming it is an India-Pakistan match, you have Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, and Shadab Khan, a good bowling attack in front of you, what do you want as a Pakistan or an Australian team?

When would they want Virat to come to bat? The fewer the overs are left, the better it is. They will want Virat Kohli to come to bat in the 45th over, it will be even better for them,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

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Talking of numbers, Kohli has played 39 matches as a No.4 batter for India, scoring 1767 runs at an average of 55.21 and a strike rate of 90.66. He has also scored seven centuries and eight half centuries, at the spot.

However, his numbers as a No.3 batter are intimidating, as Kohli boasts an average of 60.20 in 210 matches with a whopping 10,777 runs scored. He has hit 39 centuries and 55 half-centuries.

Chopra said that the more overs Kohli gets to bat, the more effective he will be for India.

"As overs keep getting elapsed, Virat Kohli will get marginalized more and more. He is a big player but he can become big enough only if you give as much opportunity to him. If you give someone a postcard and ask them to draw a picture, you will get a postcard-sized picture only. So from an opposition point of view, it's very simple that you send Virat at No. 4. It is even better if you send him at No. 5 or No. 6," he said.