He has become the scapegoat: Sanjay Manjrekar reacts to Ravi Shastri's 'Virat Kohli can bat at No. 4' remark

The BCCI selectors, headed by Ajit Agarkar, announced India's 17-man squad for the Asia Cup on Monday (August 23). The continental tournament, which will be jointly hosted by Sri Lanka and Pakistan, is set to commence on August 30 whereas India will kick off their campaign on September 02 when they take on Pakistan in Pallekele in the Island nation. The competition will be an ideal dress rehearsal for the upcoming ODI World Cupwhich gets underway in India on October 05.

With regard to the 50-over ICC event, Rohit Sharma-led India are preparing hard and will closely monitor the progress of their middle and lower order as there still remaina lot of issues for the No. 4 spot. Shreyas Iyer, who is a top contender for the No. 4 spot, is set to feature in the continental tournament after a long injury layoff -- in early February. In his absence, India have tried plenty of backups such as Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, however, no one cemented the spot (as a backup for Iyer) despite Samson's decent faring.

Moreover, KL Rahul -- who bats at No. 5 -- is also coming back to international cricket after a long time (since his hip injury IPL 2023's latter stages). Thus, India still have lots to do to fix their middle order before the World Cup commences. In this regard, former India head coach Ravi Shastri backed Virat Kohli to drop down to No. 4.

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Shastri told Star Sports channel, "If Virat has to bat at four, he will bat at four in the interest of the side. You know, there were times I thought of it." He added thatduring the 2019 World Cup, he considered changing Kohli's place "just to break that top heavy line-up".

Shastri revealed, "You know, because if we lose two or three at the top, we are gone and it was proved. If you look at Virat Kohli's record, he is good enough at number four."

'In 2007 World Cup, Dravid and Chappell sent Tendulkar at No. 4 that became a huge controversy'

Now, former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar has shared his take on whether Kohli should bat at No. 4 in the upcoming World Cup. In a segment with Tom Moody, on Star Sports, Manjrekar said, "The more and more you talk about other options like Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli seems to get relegated. He has sort of become the scapegoat in the sense that you bat him at No. 4 and all your problems are solved."

"There is also a cultural issue in Indian cricket. In 2007 World Cup when the team management of Rahul Dravid and Greg Chappell sent Tendulkar at No. 4 instead of opening because they had people like Virender Sehwag and others at the top of the order. But that became a huge controversy. So it is really up to Kohli, an iconic player, on whether he wants to bat at No.4. It seems like a perfectly simple solution, but it concerns Kohli," he added.

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