Ranking the Indian No.4 batsmen by Batting Average at No.4 Position
The Indian Cricket Team has been in search of a perfect No.4 batsman for quite some time. With the top 3 slots confirmed without any scope for change, it is the vital No.4 slot that has been used as the circus slot to introduce newcomers and debutants. The story has been such that 9 different batsmen have been tried at the No.4 spot by the Indian team management ever since the ICC Champions Trophy 2017.
This article is an attempt at understanding which Indian batsmen have had success batting at No.4 slot in One-day Internationals for India. For the purpose of this article, we have taken all the series played by India after the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Out of the 13 series played by India during this period, 10 series had ODI matches.
Let us see which Indian batsmen have been better at No.4 Slot for Indian national team in the run-up to the ICC World Cup 2019 based on their batting average at No.4 position.
#9 Kedar Jadhav
Kedar Jadhav has not been given a long run at this slot in any series. He has in total played 3 matches, one each against New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka. He has returned with below par figures of 12, 5*, 1 respectively in the 3 matches totaling 18 runs at an average of 9.
The fact remains that Jadhav has been used at this slot as a makeshift player whenever the team experiments in the middle of the series. While Jadhav has shown off his finishing skills in the lower middle order with his unorthodox shots, he has not been the No.4 batsman India is searching for.
With an average of 9, Kedar Jadhav is at No.9 in our list of the best No.4 batsman of the Indian cricket team.