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1)Push Kohli down to number 3 or 4 :- Virat Kohli has not been in the best of form in this World Cup.
With 741 runs at average of 61, everybody was waiting for Kohli to carry his IPL form to the big stage, but something has really not clicked for former Indian captain.
The biggest hurdle to him to get back in form is not trusting his game which made him the number 1 batsman across all formats for considerable period of time.
The approach of him being over the top aggressive is not working for him, and being sent as an opener to set the template for other batsman has certainly backfired for India in this tournament.
What Kohli need, is to play his natural game, the 35 ball 50 or 30 ball 50 game at the number 3 or 4 position and provide the platform for others to really go after the bowlers. If only he get to spend some time in the middle and trust his natural game, then only he can play at his best, and playing at number 3 or 4 position will give him that extra time and familiarity to really play his game and not influenced by all the talks of the background.
He need support from Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid to play his natural game, because the talk of being aggressive from ball one by Rohit Sharma is not helping Virat Kohli.
2) Jaiswal or Rinku in for Dube :- Shivam Dube has got his maiden call up for the World Cup but he has not really converted his chances so far.
He had a good season with CSK earlier this year and everyone was hoping to see the big guy smashing bowlers in USA and West Indies, but Shivam Dube himself would admit he has not brought his A game to the biggest of stage.
He is a powerful hitter down the ground, but doesn’t have shots like pull or hook, to quickly rotate his body and make use of the gaps on the leg side.
Rinku on other hand, has the ability to play behind the wicket on the leg side, in addition to his well known hitting abilities down the ground.
With Hardik bowling his full quota of overs, Dube has a sole job his hand to hit few out of the park, and with India now just one step away to land their hands on a ICC trophy, Rohit Sharma and team management should come up with a proactive solution to the situation, as replacing Dube with Rinku in the middle order or opening with Jaiswal which gives Kohli to bat at number 3 or 4 certainly adds more firepower to Indian batting line up as to what currently is.
3)Promote Axar in batting order :- Axar Patel has shown what he brings to the table. After being missed out on the final 15 in the last World Cup in 2023, Delhi Capitals vice captain has shown to everyone his presence in the playing 11 is really doing wonders for the Indian team.
He always used to bowl some tight lines and uses his height to the good advantage but in recent years he has really up his batting game. He was promoted up the order in the very first game of the World Cup and made significant contribution of 20 runs and its time again to send him as pinch hitter who can take some time in the middle and provide India with those extra 10-20 runs which decides the match fortune on the final stage.
Also Rishabh Pant is being tried at number 3 but had a mixed bag so far. May be India can strategize his position to play against spinners more.
India is all set to play their back to back ICC final this Saturday. With Gautam Gambhir soon to become India’s head coach and news of 2025 champions trophy to be the last showcase tournament for the seniors, Rohit Sharma will play the most important match of his life on 29 June and he certainly will want everyone to play their part and help India win an ICC trophy after a drought of 13 years.
