It will be interesting to see India’s batting line-up at the 2023 ODI World Cup. There are quite a few issues surrounding it, especially from a fitness perspective. Nevertheless, there is class all through the squad and India will be expected to do well. Nevertheless, some surprising batting-order changes might happen for the men in blue. On that note, here, we take a look at two surprising batting-order changes that could happen for Team India for the ODI World Cup.
1) Virat Kohli at No.4
There are already discussions that Virat Kohli might operate at No.4 in the World Cup. It would be a bold move because, in the current generation, Virat is arguably the best No.3 that the format has seen. However, India’s middle-order could be vulnerable to rustiness if there is no power-centre here.
Shreyas Iyer has not played a lot recently. He is coming off an injury. If he is unavailable, his replacements might not exactly be suited to No.4. Hence, we can have the experienced Kohli take up this position while allowing someone like Suryakumar Yadav or Tilak Varma at No.3.
2) Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Hardik Pandya
Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Hardik Pandya is one of the batting-order changes that could happen for Team India for the ODI World Cup. In the absence of Rishabh Pant, India does not have a left-hander until Ravindra Jadeja at No.7.
In this era of matchups, this would be a big mistake if there is no left-hander in the middle-overs. Although Jadeja has his issues against spin, India does not have other options. Therefore, we can see him move ahead of Hardik in the batting order. Also, if India loses a lot of wickets, Hardik is a better player to operate with the tail than Jaddu. Hardik is anyways good against pace and can make the best use of the end overs.
