Watch: "Pagalpanti Nahi" - Rohit Sharma Pulls Batting Order Query Out Of The Park

21.08.2023 - 12:09 sports.ndtv.com

The Indian cricket team squad for Asia Cup 2023 was announced on Monday and during the press conference following the reveal, skipper Rohit Sharma faced a lot of questions regarding the possible team combinations and how the batting order can look against Pakistan in the first match of the competition.

However, the veteran batter was completely unfazed by the queries and he came up with a straight yet hilarious answer. He explained that most slots in the batting order are already decided with No.

4 and 5 being the slots where some flexibility is possible. He further explained that youngsters will be shuffled in different positions and joked that the team will not indulge in 'madness' like "sending a opener to bat at No 8". “The openers will bat at their positions, same with the number 3, the spot is fixed (for Virat Kohli), KL Rahul played at number 5 before the injury he will do the same in Asia Cup, Hardik Pandya will bat at number 6 while number 7 is for Ravindra Jadeja.

Players can shuffle a bit at numbers 4 and 5, there is no problem in that aspect, it's important to have that flexibility in the squad," Rohit said at the press conference.

cricket India Cricket Team Asia Cup 2023 watch Rohit Sharma Ajit Agarkar Asia Cup India Pakistan

Rohit Sharma traded caution with aggression to add a different dimension to his batting and the Indian skipper is happy with the results even if it means not getting those daddy hundreds. At the end of the 2019 World Cup, Rohit had scored 27 hundreds but in the last four years he could add only three more centuries to his tally. The captain largely believes that this is because of the high-risk game he has adopted. "I wanted to take more risks, which is why my numbers are slightly different now," Rohit told PTI during an exclusive interview. "My (ODI) strike-rate (during this period) has increased but the average has dipped a bit. This is exactly what our batting coach (Vikram Rathour) was telling me, ‘You have scored big runs because of the way you batted all these years and in the last few years, it (big runs) has not happened because you are taking risk," the skipper added.

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The mouth-watering clash between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan in Asia Cup 2023 will be played on September 2 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. All cricket fans around the world are eagerly waiting to witness the historic rivalry unfolding for the first time since the 2022 T20 World Cup. In Asia Cup last year, both the teams met each other twice where the Rohit Sharma-led side emerged victorious in the group stage, the Pakistan team thrashed them in the Super 4 stage by 5 wickets.

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The Asia Cup 2023 is just around the corner and all the cricket fans are eagerly waiting to witness the tournament, which will kick-start from August 30. In the opening match, Pakistan will be squaring off against Nepal in Multan. Team India will be facing their arch-rivals Pakistan in their campaign opener on September 2 in Kandy. The continental event will be really special for star India batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as the duo will look to surpass Sachin Tendulkar's memorable record.

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Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar has shared his views on the idea of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli batting at no. 4 to make room for Ishan Kishan to open the innings with Shubman Gill. With the Asia Cup set to begin in a week's time, the debate around the no. 4 batting continues to intensify. During the press conference of India's Asia Cup squad announcement, India captain Rohit also shared his views on the same. Gavaskar doesn't want to disturb the batting position of Rohit, who feels that the team needs to be flexible.