ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: Mohinder Amarnath fails to understand talk around India's No 4 spot, says team has suitable options

Mumbai: He was known as the ‘comeback man’ in his playing days. He is known for the World Cup-winning spell of 3-12 and playing a calm and composed inning of 26 runs from 80 balls against West Indies in 1983. And former India cricketer Mohinder Amarnath believes only in winning-given the right situation. [caption id=“attachment_6628801” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Mohinder Amarnath. Reuters[/caption] “You just play to the situation. When you do well, there is a lot of satisfaction and happiness out of it. You help the team to do well and it’s all about winning. It doesn’t matter whether you score 100, 200 runs and end up in the losing side. That doesn’t help the team either. It’s not about the score or wickets but what situation you are in. That is more crucial, “ Amarnath told Firstpost on the sidelines of the Ceat Cricket Awards on Monday. There is a lot of talk on India’s number four batting position ahead of the ICC Cricket World cup 2019. However, Amarnath felt that there was no need for such a debate. “I fail to understand why everybody is talking about this number (Number four). I am sure once you have selected your 15, soon you have to decide who is going to bat at number four. Why do you have to try out 20 guys, 15 guys, 10 guys on who will bat at number four? If you are good enough to be part of the team, you are good enough to bat at any number. There is number one and number four, what difference does it make? I am sure they have the players, they have the team and whoever is the best suitable at that time, just play him over there (number four),” he said. He also went onto say that weather will play an important part in the tournament. “Before we used to play with red balls, we play with the white balls now. So, the wickets have become a little better because of this. That is one change this time. Secondly, the weather is also changing now. So if we assess all those, the conditions have become more batsman-friendly. I think it applies to all teams. Not only India. So, if you want to be champions, then you have to be very consistent with your batting. For example, the England-Pakistan 2nd ODI,” he said. “It was a high-scoring game. You don’t expect this to happen all the time, but it does happen. Weather is a key thing in England and it changes every day every second day. You don’t know what to expect. South may be different, north may be different, but you keep playing in different conditions. You have to adjust. You cannot play in a similar fashion in England, you have to change differently to do well,” he added. The Indian pacers had a tough time during their tour to England in August last year, where they lost the ODI series 2-1 to the hosts. When asked if bowlers will be key in conditions in England where it can get tricky sometimes, Amarnath noted that they are going to England with experience. “Many of the bowlers have played in England. It is not like they are playing there for the first time. They have all the experience. They have played in different conditions. The only thing is you will be playing different teams on different days. So, each and every strengths and weakness change. So, there you have to adjust and see how well you do. You have to live for today, not for tomorrow, not for yesterday,” he added. There might be a debate on the number four position, but Amarnath said that there was no need for extra flexibility in the batting order. “Where there is more flexibility, then you are asking for trouble. There is no need for extra flexibility. You have to have a set batting order and the first six batters are pretty pushy. If somebody is having a bad run, then maybe you can change. But, the format is in such a way that there are enough matches for your team,” he added.