Happy to bat at No 4, Rahul and Shikhar in Playing XI, says Kohli

Speaking at the pre-match press conference, the 30-year-old said that he is willing to change his batting position if it helps the team.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic choice as the first opener, the Indian team management is left with tough choice of picking either Dhawan or Rahul in the playing XI. However, the skipper indicated that all three can play together.

“Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play,” Kohli told reporters here.

Playing Rohit, Dhawan and Rahul together would push Kohli to No 4 and Shreyas Iyer to No 5, but that would then create a problem for the lower order.

India will be forced to pick one out of Rishabh Pant and Kedar Jadhav for No 6 as dislodging Ravindra Jadeja from the No 7 slot would reduce the bowling options to four. However, he did not say anything about the lower-order combination.

When asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said, ”Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat.'

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

Image credit : UNI