The No.4 position has been always a debating element when it comes to the India batting order. It has not been a steady position since India playing different series and has become a tough task to place a consistent player.
The middle-order comes into picture when the time comes that none of the top order batsmen have performed in a match and the entire Indian team starts to collapse. But the middle order has become a threat to the Indian team, yet to come up with a solution.
They have changed many players but couldn’t get a satisfactory result. Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu were the players who played at number 4 position, but none of them could retain.
Shreyas Iyer’s exceptional performance made everyone to grab his attention to No.4 position. His ODI debut came against Sri Lanka in December 2017 for the three-match ODI series. Even though his debut match didn’t go well, he managed with impressive scores of 88 and 65 in the second and third ODIs.
But after that, he couldn’t put on his performance by which he was ignored by the selectors for several series and also for the ICC World Cup 2019. However, with his call up into the West Indies tour has added up his performance level.
Shreyas Iyer has played eight ODIs for India and has an average of 46.83 at a strike rate of 98.25. This average is quite impressive when compared to Rishabh Pant and Manish Pandey, who are his direct competitors for the No. 4 position. He has already scored three half-centuries, one from ongoing West Indies tour in the second ODI.
Sunil Gavaskar and Gautam Gambhir were impressed with his performance at the second ODI and wanted him to play at No.4 position in ODI’s for India.
” In my view, Rishabh Pant is much better like an MS Dhoni at 5 or 6 as a finisher because that’s where his natural game and natural flair will come into play. If India gets to a greater start with Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma batting for 40-45 overs, then send Pant at No.4. But if its a question of batting for 30-35 overs, then I think it should be Shreyas Iyer at No.4 and Pant at No.5.” – Gavaskar said.
Aussie great Ricky Ponting, Iyer’s coach at DC, wanted Indian selectors to go with Shreyas Iyer.
“They tried a few even during the recent Australia series. Rayudu was there, Rishabh, Shankar. They could have also have tried Shreyas Iyer. He is a very good player. He has had a great domestic season,” he said.
Shreyas Iyer has been in the Caribbean in past month representing India A against West Indies A has made good scores of 61*, 47, 2, 77.
“It was a fruitful day. I knew I was going to do well, I played for India ‘A’ and I played in these grounds, paced my innings well and think it went well. “I want to stay in the team for a while. I want to play well and contribute to the team.” – Iyer said.
Kohli too addressed him for relieving him from the pressure in the midway of the match.
“He is a very confident guy and has the right attitude. He really got the tempo going and took the pressure off me.” – Kohli.
