Cursed No. 4 Spot!

In any cricket team, no. 4 is a crucial spot in the batting order. Middle order starts from no. 4. When top order fails to perform, it’s no. 4 batsman who comes to the rescue. Team needs experience in that middle order. A good mix of experience and youth at no. 4, 5 & 6 can also do but experience is must. There are two reasons for that. One, experienced middle order steadies the ship when top order fails. Two, if middle order is experienced then it uses that experience to change gears as per the situation of the match and finish the innings or the match on high. All the teams around the world have settled and experienced middle order except the no. 1 team in the world, India.

Since 2000, Indian cricket got only one captain who gave respect to seniors along with the opportunities to seniors. His name is Sourav Ganguly. All those youngsters whom Ganguly gave opportunities went on to win the world cup in 2011. Ganguly sacrificed his spot for youngsters and fought for the seniors in the team. He was unarguably the best captain. Captains after him (apart from the players of his era), disrespected and discarded seniors and their experience. It was Ganguly who gave Yuvraj no. 4 spot in the batting order. Yuvraj cemented his place in the team by giving some incredible performances at that position.

I can’t think of an all time XI without Yuvraj Singh – Rahul Dravid

Yuvraj Singh owns no. 4 spot in the team. He hasn’t given any worst performance or have been inconsistent. His only mistake is, Ravi Shastri don’t like him in the team. So, after kicking Yuvraj, he is trying hard to give his spot to other batsmen in the team. The reason he gave to drop him is, he didn’t pass Yo Yo test. Dear Mr. Shastri, when cancer couldn’t stop Yuvraj from performing and winning the world cup for India then what is this Yo Yo test? And look who is talking about (or considering) Yo Yo test; who can’t even sing Yo Yo Honey Singh’s songs properly. Forget 2011, let’s talk about recent past.

Yo Yo test is just an excuse to keep Yuvraj Singh & Suresh Raina out of team. Don’t know why these players with experience of 10-15 years were dropped suddenly. Yuvi helped India win world cup despite cancer, how does Yo Yo test matter? – Sourav Ganguly

Since 2015 world cup, India has tried 11 batsmen at no. 4 spot and only one man has been successful at that position. And that person is Yuvraj Singh. After dropping Yuvraj Singh, Indian batsmen has scored only five 50s at no. 4 in 23 innings (ODIs & T20Is combined). Out of those five 50s, Hardik Pandya was given chances in one of the 50s and one was scored by our in-form, legendary captain Virat Kohli. So, if you remove them then only three 50s in 21 odd innings. India has used top quality players at that position. Unfortunately, none of them has been able to make impact. As a result, they have been dropped and shuffled.

I felt like a club batsman while playing alongside Yuvi, the way he was hitting the ball. He took all the pressure off me and played the way only he can. – Virat Kohli after India vs Pakistan group game in ICC Champions trophy 2017

The simple reason behind the failure of top quality players at no. 4 is, Yuvraj Singh owns that spot till 2019 world cup. No. 4 spot is cursed by Yuvraj Singh fans for dropping him without any reason. On a serious note, you can love Yuvraj, you can hate Yuvraj but you can’t deny his records and experience. Again, if cancer couldn’t stop him from performing well then, this Yo Yo test is nothing. And, he is working hard to pass that test. He is a fighter. He will never give up. Team management (owned by Mr. Shastri) should stop finding rubbish reasons to keep him out of the team otherwise, no. 4 spot will be cursed forever.