18 months ago I could tell who would play at number 4 and 5', claims Rahul Dravid ahead of Asia Cup

Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid has claimed that he could have answered 18 months ago who we were seeing playing at No.4 and No.5. He has now also said that there is a lot of hype about the middle order, but that should not happen. Dravid attributed this to player injuries, as many of the players who were injured this year were middle-order batsmen.

The team management always had an eye on three players

There were concerns about the No. 4 and No. 5 spots due to injuries to Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul. Players like Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav were given a chance, but failed to make an impression. Rahul Dravid revealed that the team management was always eyeing KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant for the middle order in the World Cup before the trio got injured.

No clarity on who will be at number 4 and 5 - Dravid

"There is a lot of talk about No. 4 and No. 5 and it seems we don't have clarity on who will be there," Rahul Dravid said at a press conference during the ongoing Asia Cup training camp in Alur, Bengaluru. I could have told you 18 or 19 months ago who the candidates would be, we are looking for a player for the No. 4 or No. 5 position for the World Cup. It was always between Shreyas, KL and Rishabh." Dravid further said that all these players were dropped from the team at the same time and thus did not help to improve the situation. He said, "There was no doubt in our mind. That all three will be in the race. It is unfortunate that in that situation all three suffered injuries within a span of a few months. What are the chances of that happening? No one counted it."

Certain things have to be done for certain reasons- Dravid

Head coach Dravid further added, "To be honest the word experimentation has been heard a lot, but no one has thought about it. I don't mean we experiment just for the sake of experimenting. Sometimes there are specific reasons why you have to do certain things. " The Indian cricket team is currently eyeing the Asia Cup 2023, but the World Cup to be held in India must be on everyone's mind.