Dig at Rahul Dravid? Rohit Sharma says flexibility doesn't mean you send openers at No. 7/8 and vice-versa

Rohit Sharma spoke during India’s Asia Cup 2023 squad announcement presser.

In what could be perceived as a dig at India coach Rahul Dravid’s captaincy tenure for India, current Men in Blue leader Rohit Sharma said that while he wants flexibility in the Indian batting lineup but that doesn’t mean going haywire by sending batters at abnormal batting positions.

Rohit Sharma’s words came during the press conference in which he and BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar unveiled the Indian 17-member squad for the Aisa Cup 2023 tournament, which will be played in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 onwards.

India will open their tournament on September 2nd against Pakistan and will then play Nepal on September 4th in their two Group A matches. The Men in Blue will play all of their matches in Sri Lanka.

India skipper Rohit Sharma said players needed to be prepared for a flexible-looking middle order. However, he clarified that flexibility doesn’t mean sending an opener to bat at No. 7.

“I’ll explain it properly because it is important to understand it. When I said that flexibility is important, it doesn’t mean that you send an opener out at No.7, or make Hardik Pandya open the innings. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have only opened for the past 7-8 years. Virat Kohli has only played at No.3. The new boys that come at No.4 and No.5, they have to remain open about whether they bat up or down,” he said.

“Even in the last four or five years the opener bats where he is supposed to bat. No.3 plays only there, KL Rahul comes at No.5, he will only play there. Hardik plays No.6, Jadeja No.7. So if numbers four and five go up or down, there is no problem in that. That much flexibility is important,” Rohit told reporters.

While KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer made a return to the team after a lengthy injury hiatus, there are doubts still hovering around the middle-order as the selectors also named Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav in the squad.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma further explained what kind of flexibility he wanted from his team, which seemed like a veiled dig at current India coach Rahul Dravid’s tenure as captain of the team.

Back then, during the Dravid-Greg Chappell era, many radical changes were made in the Indian team as Sourav Ganguly was dropped altogether and Sachin Tendulkar was shunted down to No. 4 from his opening spot. In another experiment, Rahul Dravid opened the innings with Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan got a long run at No. 3 spot.

Rohit Sharma further added: “When we first came into the team our positions (also used to change). You have taken my positions over the years. We all have had to do that when we were young. That is the kind of flexibility I am talking about. Ye nahi ki ye opener hai isko 8 number pe bhej do aur 8 number wale ko upar kara do. Ye paagalpanti nai karte hum. (It doesn’t mean that you send an opener to bat at No.8 and a No.8 is promoted to the top of the order. We don’t do these kinds of nonsensical things)”

Ye nahi ki ye opener hai isko 8 number pe bhej do aur 8 number wale ko upar kara do: Rohit Sharma takes veiled dig at Rahul Dravid

Even during the early part of the Rahul Dravid coaching era, when he led the Indian team on a tour of Sri Lanka in 2021, some of the after-effects were seen. Devdutt Padikkal was played at No. 3 spot despite being an opener and Nitish Rana, a genuine No. 3 or No. 4 spot batter was shunted to No. 7 spot as a finisher.

He explained that players were sent out regardless of the batting position based on the match-ups and tactics employed by the opposition.

“This is not a school team where the numbers are going to be set in stone. You need some kind of flexibility to deal with the opposition’s tactics. So we have to see who plays a fast bowler or a spinner better and send them out accordingly. Ye nahi ki tabai machao (Doesn’t mean we will wreak havoc),” he said.

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