Sanjay Manjrekar wants Virat Kohli to bat at No 4 vs New Zealand to balance batting order

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar wants Virat Kohli to drop to No 4 batting spot in New Zealand ODIs to allow Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill to bat in the top order. Manjrekar wants Kishan to open but that would mean Gill who struck a century in the last ODI against Sri Lanka from the top will have to bat in the middle order. To solve this conundrum, Manjrekar has suggested that Kohli can drop to No 4 from his usual No 3 slot and that way both Kishan and Gill can bat in the top order.

“It’s going to be still tricky. One guy is going to be really upset. I have got an idea to sort this mess out. Have Shubman Gill bat at No. 3, he seems like he can handle that position, and then Virat Kohli sacrifices his No. 3 for a No. 4. He has done that before to Ambati Rayudu once, many years back against Sri Lanka. So that could be a way to sort it out. Ishan Kishan after his double hundred, left and right-handed combination at the top is not such a bad idea,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.

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The former cricketer also recalled that Kohli has done the same thing for Ambati Rayudu years back against Sri Lanka.

Meanwhile, India captain Rohit Sharma has already confirmed that Kishan will be batting in the middle order. The left-handed batter scored the world’s fastest ODI double ton in his last 50-over international match in December. He had to sit out of the playing XI against Sri Lanka as India wanted to give Gill a longer rope at the top. Gill repaid the faith by scoring 207 runs in three matches.

Kishan makes a return to the side as KL Rahul has taken a leave for a family commitment and Shreyas Iyer is ruled out of New Zealand series due to a back injury.

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India vs NZ ODI series

After defeating Sri Lanka in both T20I and ODI series, Rohit Sharma and Co are now looking forward to extending their winning streak against New Zealand in the upcoming ODI series. The teams will meet in the 1st ODI of the three-match series on Wednesday, 18 January at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

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