Who will play at No.4 - Addressing India's no.4 conundrum

Team India is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the limited-overs format of the game, with Virat Kohli’s men right behind Faf du Plessis’s South African side. Under Kohli, the Indian team have won 33 out of the possible 43 matches, with nine defeats and a rain-resulted washout. The bowling has looked better for the first time since the retirement of some of India’s premier pace bowlers like Zaheer Khan, with the inclusion of Jasprit Bumrah in the squad. Hardik Pandya too has helped the team fill the void of a seam-bowling all-rounder. While all the major issues have been addressed by the management successfully, there exists a problem which has not yet come to a clear conclusion. The only problem that the Indian team has not found a solution yet is the No.4 slot. This batting position has always been an area of concern for the Indian team, since the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar. Many batsmen in the past have tried to fill the empty spot in vain, with the list including all-rounder Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. However, on the other side, there has emerged five prime candidates for the No.4 slot, with the management having to decide between them leading into the World Cup 2019. Let us look at each of the candidates with primal focus: 1. MS Dhoni: MS Dhoni plays a shot. (Photo Source: Twitter) Arguably one of world’s best wicketkeeper-batsmen MS Dhoni has had his issues with the willow in the past year or two. One of the major reasons for this struggle is the crease-time that the right-handed batsman gets. Dhoni, who bats deep for the Indian team comes in towards the dead end and has to strike sweetly from ball 1, which is quite an ask from a player past his prime. However, when he walks out to play early in the innings, Dhoni has shown his ability and has played to his best. In the past year batting early in the innings, has scored over 200 runs. Dhoni came in at No.6 against Australia and knitted a partnership of utmost importance against a raging them to lead the Indian team to a total of 281/7 in a match which India eventually won. The former Indian skipper averages 53.86 at No.4 and is an ideal position for the right-handed batsman to bat at in the current Indian set-up. 2. Hardik Pandya: Hardik Pandya. (Photo Source: Twitter) Hardik Pandya has emerged from nowhere to become one of the central figures in the Indian team. The all-rounder from Gujarat first showed his strength in the Indian Premier League for the Mumbai Indians before getting the chance to represent the Indian team in the limited overs format. The team’s decision to send the all-rounder at the No.4 opened up the discussion about the future of the player. Promoting the newbie only meant that he is here to stay in the Indian cricket. In the five innings that the all-rounder played in that slot, he scored 150 runs at an average of 30 with strike-rate nearly reaching over 100 with eight sixes under his name. 3. Manish Pandey: Indian cricketer Manish Pandey. (Photo by LAKRUWAN WANNIARACHCHI/AFP/Getty Images) The unorthodox batsman from Karnataka, Manish Pandey was given a chance to show his grit and determination at No.4, but the right-handed batsman never took the opportunity as it knocked failing to register scores of significance. Proving himself and gaining the trust of the management is the only way Pandey would be included in the line-up, with no other position empty for the batsman. In the IPL, Manish has shown how good a batsman he is, with his stroke-making or in terms of his aggressive batting display. The right-hander has definitely shown glimpses to prompt that he is capable of taking care of the No.4 slot. It would be only time before the batsman from Bengaluru gains the confidence of the skipper, but is there time left? 4. Dinesh Karthik: Dinesh Karthik. (Photo Source: Twitter) The latest entrant for the No.4 position is Tamil Nadu’s Dinesh Karthik. Another right-handed batsman, Karthik has proved what he brings to the side in the series against the Kiwis where he garnered two back-to-back half centuries. In the two innings, he looked particularly as the most comfortable Indian batsman on the same pitch where the batsmen around him made mistakes with their shot-selection. Karthik has played 12 matches for the national team at the position and has scored 278 runs at an average of 39.71. Batting there has got out the best in the right-hander, with a strike rate of 68.64 and the best score of 64*. In the recent series against New Zealand, the Tamil Nadu batsman has brought out the best in him, with two innings that would make him a prime contender for the No.4 slot in the Indian team. 5. Kedar Jadhav: India’s Kedar Jadhav. (Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images) Kedar Jadhav began his Indian team career as a pure batsman, who was known for his aggressive batting style and adaptability. Just like the other four contenders for the slot, Jadhav is also a right-hander who possess an ability to knock the long ball out of the park. However, a little tactical advice from Anil Kumble sparked the bowler out of the veteran. Since then, Jadhav has become a more than handy bowler for Virat Kohli. The all-rounder has played 3 matches at the No.4 slot, with only 18 runs under his hood. However, his exploits at No.6 against England ensured that he deserves a place in the team.

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Who will play at No.4 - Addressing India's no.4 conundrum

There have emerged five prime candidates for the No.4 slot, and the management has to decide between heading into the 2019 World Cup.

5. Kedar Jadhav:

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