3 Indian players who can make their case for No.4 ahead of World Cups
The No.4 position in the Indian batting order has been up for grabs for quite some time now. The team management has tried out several players at the No.4 position, but somehow they have not been able to find a permanent batter for that slot.
In the 2019 Cricket World Cup, India's No.4 batter changed multiple times. The same thing happened in the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. With the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and Cricket World Cup 2023 scheduled to happen in the next 18 months, the Indian team management will be keen to finalize a No.4 batter in both formats.
As always, the team management has multiple options available, but they need to pick one of them. In this listicle today, we will look at the three Indian players who can make their case to bat at that position in the World Cups.
#1 Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav had to wait for a long time before getting his maiden Indian cap. The right-handed batter made his international debut against England last year and has been a regular fixture in India's white-ball team ever since.
Yadav has played 17 innings in his T20I career, with nine of them coming as a No.4 batter. He has excellent numbers at that position as he has aggregated 262 runs in nine innings at a strike rate of 184.51.
Interestingly though, the management has never used him as a No.4 batter in 50-over cricket. He has batted at No.5 and 6 in his ODI career, scoring 310 runs at an average of close to 45.
#2 Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant's batting position has changed many times in his white-ball career. He has played 27 ODI matches and batted as an opener, No.4, 5 and 6 batter, whereas in 44 T20Is he has played at every position from one to six.
A majority of Pant's white-ball innings have come as a No.4 batter. In 14 ODI innings at that position, he has scored 467 runs, including his only ODI ton against England.
In 22 T20I innings as a No.4 batter, Rishabh Pant has scored 339 runs at an average of 17.84. It looks like Suryakumar Yadav may bat at No.4 in T20Is, while Pant is likely to hold that position in ODIs.
#3 Hardik Pandya
The wildcard option for this position is Hardik Pandya. Playing for the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022, the ace all-rounder scored runs consistently at the No.4 position. He also played a match-winning knock at that position in a T20I against Ireland earlier this year.
Hardik has always welcomed the opportunity to play in pressure situations. Looking at his recent innings in matches where the team lost early wickets, Hardik could be a great choice to bat at No.4 in World Cups for the Men in Blue.