Virat Kohli is perfect for No 4, he can put the innings together: AB de Villiers

The Indian team management and fans are still fretting over who should be India’s No 4 at the ODI World Cup 2023, but former South Africa superstar AB de Villiers has a simple solution to the issue. De Villiers feels his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate Virat Kohli could be a good fit at No 4 as “he can put the innings together, play any kind of role in that middle order”.

“We’re still talking about who will be the No. 4 batter for India. I’ve heard some rumours about Virat possibly taking up that position. I would be a big supporter of that,” de Villiers said on his YouTube channel ‘AB de Villiers 360.

“I think Virat is perfect for No. 4. He can put the innings together, play any kind of role in that middle order. I don’t know if he would like to do that. We know he loves his No. 3 position; he’s scored all his runs there, but at the end of the day, if the team needs you to do something, play a certain role, you have got to put your hand up and got for it.”

Kohli boasts a solid record batting at No 4 in ODIs. He has scored 1767 runs at an average of 55.21 in 39 innings at No 4 including seven hundreds.

Injuries suffered by Shreyas Iyer (back) and KL Rahul (thigh) earlier this year have led to India facing No 4 issue but both batters are part of the Asia Cup 2023 squad and if they do well, it could help India solve the problem.

Captain Rohit Sharma however has already said that Indian batters need to be flexible about their positions.

“No one should say, ‘I’m good at this position or I’m good at that position’. You want guys to be able to bat anywhere, that’s the message conveyed to every individual. Not now, but over the last three-four years,” he said during the team announcement for the Asia Cup.