The Most Versatile Indian Batsman in ODIs To Play At Multiple Positions

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India has produced some of the greatest batsmen in the world. Cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, etc. played for India. While currently, players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli rule the world as well. But something more difficult to achieve for a batsman is to play well at multiple batting positions. Here is an analysis of who was/is the best player for India to play at multiple batting positions. Though for the record, I will be considering only those players who played more than or equal to 5 matches at more than 3 batting positions. <h2><b><center>One Day Cricket</center></b></h2> <h3><b>Sachin Tendulkar</b></h3> Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in ODI cricket in 1989 against Pakistan. Though Sachin Tendulkar is considered one of the best openers for India, he made his debut as a middle-order batsman at number 5. He played 340 matches as an opener and scored 15310 runs at an average of 48.17. Sachin Tendulkar played at 6 different positions. Though he played more than 5 matches at 4 batting positions which were opening, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. His stats as an opener were excellent but he couldn't show similar performances at other positions. He had an average of 10.22, 38.55, and 28.46 batting at numbers 3, 4, and 5 respectively. <iframe title="Sachin Tendulkar's Stats At Different Batting Positions" aria-label="table" id="datawrapper-chart-Joock" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Joock/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="341"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}(); </script> <h3><b>Rahul Dravid</b></h3> Rahul Dravid was another great player who played at multiple batting positions. He played at 7 different positions while he played more than 5 matches at 5 different positions. Surprisingly for a batsman like Rahul Dravid who preferred the defensive style of batting, the number 5 and number 6 batting position suited him the most. He had an average of 51.00 at number 6 and 43.91 at number 5. He also played as an opener, at number 3, and at number 4 where he had a decent average of 39.30, 38.83, and 36.27 respectively. In my opinion, even though Sachin Tendulkar was a better batsman than Rahul Dravid, Dravid was better at playing at different batting positions which made him a good asset for the Indian team. <iframe title="Rahul Dravid's Stats At Different Batting Positions" aria-label="table" id="datawrapper-chart-OSsWE" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/OSsWE/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="343"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}(); </script> <h3><b>MS Dhoni</b></h3> MS Dhoni is famous for his captaincy and finishing role as a batsman. MS Dhoni started his career as a lower-order batsman. But he failed to perform well in his initial matches so captain Sourav Ganguly promoted him up the order. This changed Dhoni's career as a batsman. MS Dhoni played at 7 different positions, from opening the innings for India to playing at number 8. He played more than 5 matches at numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. At number 3 he had his best batting numbers. He had an average of 82.75 at number 3. At numbers 4, 5, 6, and 7 he had batting averages of 56.58, 50.30, 47.32, and 44.76 respectively. M.S. Dhoni played well at every batting position he was allotted. He became the first Indian batsman to retire from ODI cricket with an average of more than 50. <iframe title="MS Dhoni's Stats At Different Batting Positions" aria-label="table" id="datawrapper-chart-Vfx3n" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Vfx3n/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="343"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}(); </script> <h3><b>Sourav Ganguly</b></h3> Sourav Ganguly is also considered one of the best captains of the Indian team and a great batsman. He is the current President of the BCCI. Sourav Ganguly got to bat at 8 different batting positions like Dhoni and Dravid. Though Sourav Ganguly played more than 5 matches at 4 different positions which were the opener, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. He had his best stats as an opener and at number 3. As an opener, he played 236 matches and averaged 41.57. He had an average of 52.71 at number 3. Though at number 4 and 5 he couldn't show similar performances. He averaged 24.84 at number 4 and 26.89 at number 5. <iframe title="Sourav Ganguly's Stats At Different Batting Positions" aria-label="table" id="datawrapper-chart-oxViV" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oxViV/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="343"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}(); </script> <h3><b>Suresh Raina</b></h3> Suresh Raina was once a very important part of the Indian side in shorter formats of the game. Raina played as a batting all-rounder on the Indian side. For most of his career at played at number 5 and 6 though he had his best stats at number 4. Suresh Raina played at 6 different batting positions from number 3 to 8. He played more than 5 matches at 5 different positions. At number 4 he averaged 45.00. At numbers 3, 5, 6, and 7 he averaged 30.33, 35.48, 34.84, and 25. <iframe title="Suresh Raina's Stats At Different Batting Positions" aria-label="table" id="datawrapper-chart-jHKtz" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/jHKtz/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="314"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}(); </script> <h3><b>Kapil Dev</b></h3> Kapil Dev is considered the best all-rounder to play for India. He was a bowling all-rounder. He was also the first Indian player ever to score a century in ODIs. He played at 8 different positions in ODIs. Though he played more than or equal to 5 matches at 5 different positions. Kapil Dev played at numbers 6 and 7 for most of his career. He had an average of 26.60 at number 6 and 24.18 at number 7. He played more than 5 matches at numbers 4, 5, and 8 as well where he averaged 14.13, 22.45, and 21.80 respectively. <iframe title="Kapil Dev's Stats At Different Batting Positions" aria-label="table" id="datawrapper-chart-sAjfR" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/sAjfR/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="343"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}(); </script> <h3><b>Yuvraj Singh</b></h3> Yuvraj Singh is credited for India's victory in T20I and ODI World Cups in 2007 and 2011. He played well whenever India needed him the most. Apart from that, he was quite versatile as well. Yuvraj Singh played at 6 different positions for the Indian team. He played more than 5 matches at 4 different positions. He played most of his matches at numbers 4 and 5. At number 4 he averaged 35.21 and at number 5 he averaged 39.48. He also played more than 5 matches at numbers 3 and 6. At number 3 he averaged 33.17 and at number 6 at he had an average of 36.71. Even though his averages aren't in the 40s range, he was quite consistent at all these positions. <iframe title="Yuvraj Singh's Stats At Different Batting Positions" aria-label="table" id="datawrapper-chart-ijzL5" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ijzL5/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="314"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data["datawrapper-height"][a]+"px"}}}))}(); </script> <h2><b><center>Conclusion</center></b></h2> In my opinion, MS Dhoni is simply the most versatile batsman to play at different batting positions. He had an average of more than 48 in all the batting positions. None other players were able to replicate that. Rahul Dravid would be the second-best player in this regard because of his consistency.

- Ojas Srivastava, 10:34 PM, 12 Jun, 2021