India in search of missing No. 4

Mumbai, august 10

No batter has succeeded in settling into the vital No. 4 slot in the Indian ODI team since the retirement of Yuvraj Singh, captain Rohit Sharma said today, raising serious concerns before the World Cup.

With the 50-over World Cup less than two months away, India are struggling to find a batter for the

No. 4 slot, something that has also troubled them in the previous edition in 2019 in England.

Shreyas Iyer, who is on a comeback trail after a long injury layoff, did well in his 20 matches at No. 4, scoring 805 runs at 47.35 with two centuries and five fifties.

“Look, No. 4 has been an issue for us for a long time. After Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh), nobody has come and settled themselves in. But, for a long period of time, Shreyas (Iyer) has actually batted at No. 4 and he has done well — his numbers are really good,” Rohit said.

“Unfortunately, injuries have given him a bit of trouble; he has been out for a while and that is honestly what has happened in the last 4-5 years. A lot of these guys have got injured and you will always see a new guy coming and playing there,” he said.

With both KL Rahul — India’s preferred option for No. 5 as wicketkeeper-batter — and Iyer on comeback trail, Sharma said they will wait and watch how these two players go.

“The selection (meeting) will be there in a few days, we will have a good debate about what we can do. But honestly nobody is an automatic choice — they all have to fight for the spot — everyone has to, whether it is a top spot or a bottom spot. We have got a lot of names there. We will see what right combination for the World Cup is but before we have the Asia Cup,” the he said.