3 ways in which India can fit Shreyas Iyer in their XI for the 4th T20I vs Australia
Team India will have a new player to choose from for the final two T20Is against Australia as Shreyas Iyer has joined the squad after sitting out the first three matches. The batter will also serve as the vice-captain of the side for the remainder of the series.
The Men in Blue currently hold a 2-1 lead in the five-match rubber, with Suryakumar Yadav leading them fairly well in the absence of several first-choice players. The Indian skipper will welcome the return of Shreyas, who was in excellent form during the 2023 World Cup.
India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain).
However, with India fielding a settled batting combination in the series so far, they might need to rack their brains to find the ideal way to include Shreyas in the XI. There are already a couple of players batting out of position, and the hosts won't want to meddle with the team even further.
Here are three ways in which India can fit Shreyas Iyer in their XI for the fourth T20I against Australia.
#3 Shreyas Iyer could replace Ishan Kishan, with Jitesh Sharma coming in for Tilak Varma
Shreyas Iyer needs to bat in the top four to be at his best, and the best way to do that might be to replace Ishan Kishan at No. 3. Although the southpaw has been good so far, with two half-centuries to his name, India might want to give other players chances.
One way in which they can accommodate Shreyas at No. 3 is by replacing Tilak Varma with Jitesh Sharma, who is more suited to a middle-order role than Kishan. The dashing keeper-batter hasn't played for the national T20I side outside the Asian Games and will be itching to make an impression.
Suryakumar Yadav and the rest of the Indian batters can retain their current spots in this scenario.
#2 India could drop one of the openers and bring in Shreyas
Despite his two fifties at No. 3, Ishan Kishan's ideal position in T20Is is at the top of the order. And if India drop one of the openers to accommodate Shreyas, Kishan could open alongside the other.
So who is more likely to be dropped? Yashasvi Jaiswal seems to be the better option for the long run, and the youngster hammered a match-defining half-century in the second T20I. Ruturaj Gaikwad belongs to a more sedate breed of top-order batters, but he plundered a century in the previous game.
It wouldn't be wise for India to tinker with their opening combination, but if they have the objective of more batters featuring in their ideal positions, this will be a serious possibility.
#1 India can make a straight swap between Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma
This will leave plenty of players batting out of position, but as things currently stand, this might be India's best bet at bringing Shreyas Iyer into the fold.
Tilak Varma, who has been batting at No. 5, could be pushed out of the XI, with Shreyas presumably occupying a spot in the top four. This would mean that either Kishan or Suryakumar would have to take up the role Tilak has been playing in the series so far.
Tilak lost his shape while trying to muscle the ball in the last game and hasn't really made much of an impression. While removing him would leave India with just five bowling options, the skipper hasn't been too keen on using the youngster with the ball anyway.