Ajinkya Rahane has grown in stature since the Australian tour began

Why has number three suddenly become crickets Syria the nogo zone of international batting orders In recent times a prolific Michael Clarke flatly refused to bat there both India and Englands prime position has been in a state of flux and there are calls for Steve Smith despite reasonable success to vacate three now hes Australian captainIndias Ajinkya Rahane batted at No 3 during the recently concluded Test series against Sri Lanka PicSolaris ImagesUnless youre a born opener threes the best place to bat If there isnt a Bill Lawry and Bob Simpson or Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes highly successful opening partnership preceding you theres the opportunity to establish the pattern of playYou walk out to bat at your own pace and apart from the case of an immediate set back theres a chance to quickly assess from the pavilion how the pitch is playing and what the new ball bowlers have that dayIt isnt bad to go earlyWhile theres a chance youll sit for a while before batting if youre not mentally prepared to face the second ball of an innings then batting at three isnt for you A number three doesnt barrack for a dismissal but going in early is no bad thing The bowlers are still working their way into a spell and youre mentally freshBefore Smith accepts any misguided advice to drop down the order he should ponder this thought As captain of Australia in the Caribbean in 1973 I was delighted when my opposite number Rohan Kanhai demoted himself to fiveKanhai was one of the best righthand batsmen Ive seen hes largely overlooked because he played in the shadow of Sir Garfield Sobers a dominant player possessing all the shots and not afraid to launch a calculated but furious counterattack after the loss of an early wicket He was the ideal number threeBy demoting himself he indicated doubts about his batting lineup If so hed have better protected them by scoring heavily at three and helping to make their life easier As captain and number three you can establish the pattern of play whereas later in the order you either follow whats gone before or dig the team out of a deep hole Either way its a more difficult taskKanhai handed Australia an advantage even before a ball had been bowled Any sign of Smith wavering would provide similar comfort to opponents There are two choices for number three Theres the skilled stroke maker who can mount a counterattack or the technically sound player who fights his way out of trouble after an early lossFor example Id put Ricky Ponting and VVS Laxman in the first category with David Boon and Rahul Dravid in the second Smith probably falls in the middle with a slight leaning to the former My preference mdash if you have the choice mdash is for the PontingLaxman type over the BoonDravid styleIf a captain is fortunate enough to have someone with that level of skill you dont dilute his attributes by batting him down the order Indias Ajinkya Rahane recently embraced the opportunity to bat at three which says a lot about a player who has grown in stature since the beginning of the Australian tourEnglands Ian Bell has the talent to be a dominant three but unlike Rahane he didnt embrace the opportunity and only moved there as a careersaving last resort I dont agree with the theory the best player bats at threeThat statement is a hangover from the Don Bradman era when he was both ideally suited to the position and the best batsman in the teamBorn to bat at No 3However certain players have a born to bat at three demeanour Kanhai Viv Richards Ponting Ted Dexter and Laxman are just a few in that categoryThere was much to admire about Pontings play but importantly for Australia he displayed a fierce determination to hold down the number three spot once he was elevated to the position Smith will do his team a similar service if he shows that same determination through the good and bad times