ICC World Cup 2019: With Rahul moving up, Shankar tipped to be No. 4

NOTTINGHAM: The weather has affected several games at the ongoing World Cup and has cast a shadow over the India-New Zealand World Cup game, coming up here on Thursday. Does the bad weather lead to distraction among players? No, feels India assistant coach Sanjay Bangar.
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"Generally, when you come to England, you expect these things, you're bound to get a few days where the weather is going to play a role.But from our point of view… we've been lucky that we haven't had a game affected by the weather. So, let's keep our fingers crossed (for Thursday)," Bangar said on Wednesday.
He also felt that since the Indian batsmen were in good form, they could afford to miss practice once in a while. "It isn't necessary that you come to the nets every day. At times, if you miss practice because of weather or something, that's still fine."

With KL Rahul set to replace Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order, the debate over the No.4 position has again started. So, who will bat in that slot? "There are various options the team management has going into the next game. Obviously, Vijay Shankar is going to be an option, and there are a couple of others as well."
Rahul played at No.4 in the first match against South Africa, while Hardik Pandya was promoted up to bat in that position as India looked to accelerate against Australia. MS Dhoni is also an option the team has.
Bangar said that Rahul won't face much of a challenge in opening the batting with Sharma. "The advantages of playing in various situations is that you understand the game a lot better. If you're a top-order batsman and batting in the middle order, then you get to know the challenges faced by the middle order. If you look across the history of the game, there have been versatile players. Like Rahul Dravid who batted at various positions and it helped the team big time.

"It's a mental adjustment, and any player who is able to do that requires a lot of skill, but ultimately it will enhance his position."
Updating the media on Shikhar Dhawan's injury, Bangar said the team would be observing him for around 10 to 12 days. "Then, we'll get to know where he stands, and we'll be in a better position to take a call because we don't want to rule out a precious player like Shikhar."
India were the last to play their first game in the World Cup - on June 5 against South Africa - and this gave the team a distinct advantage. "We spent a lot of time before our first match, and that was an advantage. What's fortunate is that everybody has got to bat and bowl. From a batting point of view, all the six batsmen except Kedar have had a chance to go and bat in the middle, and each of them has done really well in their roles."

Bangar, a decent slow-medium bowler in his playing days, denied that the Kookaburra balls were not getting any movement in World Cup matches. "There's always something in the wicket that you can't really see. Okay, it's not swinging that much, but the ball is seaming, as you saw in the last game (against Australia). Bhuvneshwar Kumar got those late wickets and the ball seamed quite a bit. The conditions are always challenging here in England."
The team management confirmed that Rishabh Pant will be with the team in Manchester as a standby as a cover for Dhawan who will continue to be part of the squad. Pant will train with the team but won't be part of the dressing room, nor will he travel in the team bus.