India Heavily Reliant on Virat Kohli for World Cup, Says Rahul Dravid
Rahul Dravid feels Virat Kohli needs to bat well and set the tempo if India are to have a chance of retaining the World Cup.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: January 24, 2015 09:52 am IST
India cricket legend Rahul Dravid Saturday said star batsman Virat Kohli will need to be at his best during the ICC World Cup as the Indian team was heavily reliant on its One-Day International (ODI) vice captain. (Kohli should bat at no. 4 if it suits the team's plans: Viv Richards)
"If you look at the Indian batting lineup, they are in a sense heavily reliant on someone like Virat Kohli to get India through those middle overs which allows the likes of Raina and Dhoni to come at the back end and finish off games," Dravid was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. (BCCI gives new deadline to West Indies)
He further added Kohli needs to bat well and set the tempo if India are to have a chance of retaining the World Cup. (Team India look emotionally drained: Danny Morrison)
"He will need to bat well. He'll need to set the tempo for the side." (Dhoni in legal tangle with mobile company)
Dravid was, however, concerned about the death bowling of the team terming it "inconsistent".
"Mohammad Shami we've seen has a good yorker and when he's on song he does well. Ishant Sharma has blown hot and cold in one-day cricket. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is brilliant when the balls swings, but again his death bowling has been good on some days, not been great (on other days) same with Umesh Yadav. So there's no consistency in that," he added.