Rahane in running for World Cup slot: Virat Kohli

Durban: India skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday said the experimentation in the middler order will continue for some more time though the conditions make Ajinkya Rahane a strong no. 4 candidate for the World Cup in England next year.

The Indian team had an optional practice session on Wednesday, with Kohli and pace bowlers taking a day off.

“We have explored many options in the last few months. We don’t have too many series and too much time left before the World Cup, so we want to explore all the options before the World Cup,” Kohli told reporters.

“I had said earlier that Ajinkya Rahane would be looked at as a third opener but that situation can change because he has batted at no. 4 in a World Cup (in 2015) before. These conditions are such that you get to play fast bowling throughout the innings so he becomes a strong candidate for no. 4.

“Other than him we have Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey. We don’t want to be one-dimensional. It depends whose technique is more suited to what spot especially in that particular country. All options are open,” he said further.

The rest of the batting order is more or less sorted, said Kohli.

“Although the lower middle order is more or less sorted, the middle order is something we are still looking at. The combination is working well for us with Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav and M.S. Dhoni rotating and batting together. No. 4 is something we have experimented with in the last couple of series. That is the only spot I can see that needs to be solidified otherwise the team looks pretty balanced,” he added.