Why Virat Kohli should bat at No. 4 in ODIs going forward

With most Indian fans still recovering from their team's shock exit from the 2019 Cricket World Cup, it's worth looking at a few different batting combinations the management can try going forward.

The squad for the West Indies tour has been announced, and it seems likely that India are going to try either Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul at No. 4 in the ODIs. But there is one combination that the think-tank hasn't looked at fully, and now might be the best time to explore it.

KL Rahul

No. 4 is a batting position that requires significant technical fortitude to counter a 10/2 situation, and also a power game that is required for 200/2 situation. Honestly, there is no one better than the world's premier batsman Virat Kohli to combine those two traits.

India's middle order muddle is often complicated by the template of their ODI batting pattern. The top 3 consisting of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Kohli scores almost 70 percent of the runs but in a slightly conservative manner, unlike current world champions England.

More often than not this approach ensures that they lose very few wickets early on, and sets up easy victories in the lower-stakes environment of bilateral series. But in knockout matches, where the likelihood of the top order failing is higher because of the added pressure, the fragile middle order doesn't have enough gumption to bail the team out.

Rohit Sharma contributes a bulk of the runs along with Kohli and Dhawan

Part of the reason for that could be lack of continuous opportunities. The top three are so good, that the middle order is hardly ever required to step up.

It's high time that India separates the prolific top 3 and bats Kohli at 4. That would enable someone like Iyer or Rahul to bat freely at 3 knowing there is still King Kohli to come. It would also give these players and Rishabh Pant or Manish Pandey, who are going to bat at 5 in the near future, the opportunity to learn from a modern great in the format. They can imbibe from Kohli how to suss out different situations and bat accordingly.

As India try to build a team for the next World Cup they would do well to note that No. 4 batsmen are not born; they are made. And playing Kohli at 4 might be the way to make the best possible batsman for the position.