5 Players who can bat at No.4 for India after the World Cup

Who is going to bat at No. 4 in the World Cup?? This is the question the Indian team management, players and the fans have been asking themselves for the past few years. Since the last World Cup in 2015, India tried a lot of players like Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey and Ambati Rayudu in the position but none of them could perform consistently.

Rayudu came close and almost looked certain to bat at four in the World Cup till a few months back. But a last-minute dip in form raised doubts and the batsman was omitted from the World Cup squad. Now with the World Cup squad being finalized, either of KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar or Dinesh Karthik will bat at the No. 4 position in the tournament.

While this looks a decent bet for the World Cup, the selectors and the Indian team management will look to find a long term solution to the number four slot which is one of the most important and key positions in ODI cricket.

Here we bring you five players who could take up the responsibility after the World Cup:

1. Shreyas Iyer

The Delhi Capitals captain, Shreyas Iyer is known for playing classical cricket shots with brute force. Spotted at a young age by former Indian cricketer Pravin Amre, Iyer came to limelight in the 2015 IPL edition where he scored 439 runs from 14 matches thereby winning the emerging player of the year award. Since then he went on to become an important player of the team and was also made the captain of the team last year.

He has also performed brilliantly for the Mumbai team in domestic cricket and has risen through the ranks in the past few years. In 70 List-A matches, Iyer has scored 2647 runs at an impressive strike rate of 94.33. He has mostly batted at the No.3 in the IPL and for Mumbai in List-A cricket. Shreyas Iyer’s game is quite suited for the No. 4 position in ODI cricket. He plays both pace and spin well and can bat defensively and also attack the bowlers when required.

He has played for India in six ODIs and should’ve got more chances to prove himself. Nevertheless, Iyer looks the prime candidate to make it into the side again after the mega event.