Indian team management is considering using the Indian team skipper Rohit Sharma to play at the crucial No.4 spot in the team ahead of the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023. This move could be an option for the team following Ishan Kishan’s brilliance opening batting against West Indies in the three-match ODI series.
India had been facing a middle-order problem, particularly for the No. 4 spot, ever since the 2015 World Cup. India played Ambati Rayudu as a specialized batter before the world cup and suddenly replaced him with Vijay Shankar stating that he gives a “3-D” option to the team, as the idea failed miserably with the Tamil-Nadu batter ruling out of the World Cup in mid-way of the 2019 world cup.
The number of players tried and tested in this position, gives an impression that the team has not sorted the crucial No.4 player for the team going into the Asia Cup 2023 and ODI World Cup 2023, and the injury to Shreyas Iyer has opened up the spot up grabs in the Indian team.
According to the reports in Indian Express, It is reported that the team management is looking at Rohit Sharma at the No.4 spot as he has experience playing in different positions and it is also said that Sanju Samson is seen as another candidate for a spot with Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma being considered at bat at No.5 spot above Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja.
With Shreyas Iyer not a part of the team due to a back injury, Suryakumar Yadav had the chance to nail his spot by delivering in the middle order but hasn’t performed upto his potential in the ODI cricket failing to make an impact for the team in the West Indies ODI series. The team management is also mulling to try Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan as backups in the team who can take up that spot in the middle order.
Since India’s victory in the 2013 Champions Trophy, India has advanced to the ODI World Cup semifinals in 2015, the T20 World Cup final in 2016, the ODI World Cup final in 2019, and the 2021 and 2023 WTC Final but could not go one step further in the big tournaments and they will be pumped to win the championship in home soil after 12 long years.