Who should bat at 4 for India in tests? Rohit or Virat?

For almost 2 decades, Sachin Tendulkar had made the No. 4 position in the Test squad his own. Now with his retirement, a huge void has been created in the Indian Test team. 2 of the strong contenders for the Number 4 spot are Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

Based on performances and Test match experience, it looks like a simple decision to have Virat Kohli batting at the position of the God of Cricket. His current form and his appetite for runs makes him a clear front runner. Add to that his sound technique, ability to score of short deliveries and regularly rotate the strike plays to his advantage. He already has 4 centuries out of 20 tests, one of them coming in the humiliating 4-0 whitewash series against Australia. He was the only bright spark in India’s batting scoring the only century for the visitors. Kohli has played the spinners and fast bowlers equally well and so far in his short career, the youngster has played many match-winning knocks for the country. The biggest quality that makes him the successor of legendary cricketer of all time Sachin Tendulkar is his ability to convert his starts into big scores. He is sure of his place in the team which again is a reassuring confidence factor. His captaincy in the U-19 World Cup triumph along with playing a huge role in the 2013 World Cup win adds to his reputation as a thinking player. His form in ODI’s clearly puts him way ahead for the No. 4 spot. Sample this: Kohli is already third in the list of century makers in ODIs for India behind only Tendulkar (49) and Sourav Ganguly (22). Overall, he is 17th in the history of the limited overs game, and his average 49.72 is the best of those 17. These are mind boggling numbers for someone who is still a quarter of a century old.

Rohit Sharma on the other hand, is relatively new to Test cricket. His recent performances do give us glimpses that he has the ability to perform in Test Cricket too. A double hundred followed by 2 consecutive centuries in his first two matches show that Rohit has found the temperament he was once lacking. And it looks after 6 years since making his international debut, his time has truly come in Test Cricket. However, it would be silly to directly promote him to No. 4 based on his current form. He first needs to prove himself on foreign grounds and maintain his consistency (and also pray that Virat Kohli fares poorly) to contest for that No. 4 spot.

So for now, it’s the Delhi lad Virat Kohli who can be crowned as the successor of Mumbai’s jewel