The idea of permanent batting slots is probably irrelevant in the age of Twenty20 cricket and India should not lose sleep over a designated number four at the World Cup in England, former captain Kapil Dev said on Wednesday. The team under Virat Kohli continue to fret over the slot after a series of candidates fluffed their auditions before they fly to England seeking a third ODI World Cup crown. All-rounder Vijay Shankar is expected to bat at number four while they have another option in back-up opener Lokesh Rahul but Kapil, the captain of India’s 1983 World Cup winning team, said batting order demarcation had blurred. He has high hopes from Hardik Pandya, often touted as the ‘next Kapil Dev’, but insisted the seam-bowling all-rounder should be allowed to play freely. I don’t like anybody being compared to anyone.”First Published: May 08, 2019 21:02 IST

Source: Hindustan Times May 08, 2019 15:33 UTC