Rohit Sharma has harped on the importance of flexibility in the batting order and emphasised that the team will be adventurous about using their resources.
"One thing I want in this team is to make sure everyone is okay to bat anywhere," Rohit said at a media conference in New Delhi on Monday.
"That's one thing we need to keep in mind. You need flexibility, guys who can step up at any position. No one should say, 'I'm good at this position or I'm good at that position'. You want guys to be able to bat anywhere, that's the message conveyed to every individual. Not now, but over the last three-four years.
"I know it's tough for guys on the outside to understand why a guy who bats at six is batting at four, but the message has been given. You don't want to be handicapped or stuck with one player batting in one position.
"Having said that, you want to get the best out of players in certain positions. All seven-eight (positions) are open to anyone, that's the message we have sent out for so many years now," the Team India captain explained.
Rohit was, however, quick to clarify that flexibility didn't necessarily mean being dynamic for the sake of it.
"When I said flexibility is important, it's not like I'm implying sending the opener at No. 7 or opening the batting with Hardik Pandya.
"Shikhar (Dhawan) and Rohit have only opened in the last seven-eight years, Kohli has batted only at three. Youngsters who come in at four-five, it's important for them to be flexible, batting up and down," Rohit said.
"In the last four-five years if you look, the opener has opened, No. 3 has batted at three, KL has batted five, Hardik six, Jadeja seven. Four and five, sometimes if they move up and down, there's no problem. That much flexibility is important."
Yuzvendra Chahal's omission has come as a surprise much like the absence of an off-spinner. But Rohit had his own logic.
"We thought about an off-spinner as well, Ashwin and Washy (Washington Sundar), but right now you see Chahal had to miss out because we could only pick 17 players," he said.
"The only way we could have picked him was if one of the seamers was missing. We can't do that because seamers are going to play a big role... A few of them are coming back after a long time, so we wanted to have a good look at them...
"Having said that, no doors are closed on anyone. Anyone can come in any time. If we feel we need Chahal for the World Cup, we'll see how we can squeeze him in, the same goes for Washy or Ashwin."
'No. 4 is just a number'
Mumbai: Former captain Sourav Ganguly on Monday said India have a lot of options for the No. 4 position in their ODI side and stressed that one position alone will not win important tournaments like the World Cup.
Sourav said the team management should zero in on one player and give him a long rope at the No 4 slot. “India has enormous talent. I keep hearing about this...we don’t have this or that but we have too much and that is the problem that we cannot decide.
"The No 4... Rahul (Dravid), selectors and Rohit (Sharma) need to decide that ‘this is my No. 4 and I will continue with him’. One batting slot does not make much of a difference... No. 4 is just a number and anybody can fit in,” Sourav said on the sidelines of a promotional.
PTI