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Nitish Reddy To Replace Virat Kohli At No 4? Ex-Pakistan Player's Bold Remark

Rajgeeta Yadav

Basit Ali wants Nitish Reddy to bat at no 4 [Source: AP]Basit Ali wants Nitish Reddy to bat at no 4 [Source: AP]

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has made strong comments about how the Indian team management is handling Virat Kohli's form during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. India suffered a tough loss against Australia in the Melbourne Test. The fourth match of the series, held on Boxing Day, saw India collapse in the fourth innings, ultimately losing by 184 runs. 

With India trailing 1-2 in the series, the team now faces a must-win situation in the New Year’s Test in Sydney to stay alive in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final qualification race. A win for Australia would secure their spot in the WTC Final against South Africa in June 2025.

Basit Ali Suggests Change In Virat Kohli's Batting Position

Amid criticism of India’s batting, Basit Ali has joined the conversation, particularly pointing out Virat Kohli’s struggles. Ali has suggested that Kohli, who has been batting at No. 4, should be demoted to No. 5, allowing someone like Nitish Kumar Reddy to bat ahead of him. Reddy scored a century in the previous match and has been in good form.

"Now is the time to bring Nitish up at No. 4 and Virat Kohli at No. 5 because he is not able to score at No. 4," he said. 

“Now is the team to bring Nitish up at No. 4 and Virat Kohli at No. 5 because he is not able to score at No. 4. He's getting out on the same shot, if you are not able to score then drop lower down the order; Rohit is doing that but nobody thinking about Virat because everybody's afraid, I think former coach Rahul Dravid will be missed,”  he added. 

Virat Kohli's Performance in BGT

Virat Kohli’s form in the series has been below expectations. After his century in Perth, he has struggled with scores of 7, 11, 3, 36, and 5 in the following Tests. This inconsistency has drawn attention, especially when compared to his earlier form this year against New Zealand at home.

Ali believes these struggles are reason enough to reconsider Kohli's position in the batting line-up, especially in such an important series.