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India captain “will see” how Iyer and Rahul will perform on returning from injuries
Suryakumar Yadav is likely to be Shreyas Iyer’s back up for the Asia Cup • AFP/Getty Images
It’s a debate that didn’t seem settled before and after the 2019 World Cup, and there is a serious danger of India’s No. 4 conundrum carrying over to the 2023 World Cup too. Unlike last time, when the selectors had a late change of mind over personnel, injuries have played a part this time around to leave India slightly unsettled.
This is an issue Rohit Sharma, the India captain, is mindful of less than two months out from the team’s tournament opener against Australia in Chennai. Of particular concern to him is how after Yuvraj Singh, “nobody has come and settled themselves in” for the No. 4 spot.
“Look, No. 4 has been an issue for us for a long time,” Rohit said at an event in Mumbai to announce the new La Liga season. “For a long period of time, Shreyas [Iyer] has actually batted at No. 4 and he has done well – his numbers are really good.
“There were so many guys who came in and went out. But injuries kept them away or they were not available or someone lost form. Shreyas and KL [Rahul] are coming off not playing anything for four months, big injuries, surgeries rather. Both had surgeries. I know, I had to undergo surgery once and how it feels afterwards, it is quite tough. We have to see how they respond, what they do.”
Twenty of Iyer’s 38 ODI innings have come at No. 4 in which he has score 805 runs at an average of 47.35, with two centuries and five half-centuries. But he has been riddled with injuries and hasn’t played any form of cricket since March this year, when a back injury flared up leading to surgery and made him miss the IPL.
He is currently believed to be in his final stages of rehabilitation and had started batting in the nets last month.
“Unfortunately, injuries have given him a bit of trouble; he has been out for a while and that is honestly what has happened in the last four-five years,” Rohit said. “A lot of these guys have got injured and you will always see a new guy coming and playing there.
“The percentage of injuries that have happened in the last four-five years, it is massive. When the players get injured or are not available, you try doing different things with different players – that is what I have to say about No. 4.”
India have tried 11 players at No. 4 in ODIs since the 2019 World Cup. Iyer is one of the two – Rishabh Pant being the other – to have batted over 10 times in the position. India will certainly miss Pant as he recovers from multiple injuries, while new entrants like Suryakumar Yadav and Sanju Samson have found it hard to cement their places in ODIs.
Suryakumar admitted recently that his ODI numbers are “really bad” and that he has taken it in his stride as he tries and works out the formula to succeed in 50-overs cricket.
“He is really working hard, and he is talking to a lot of guys who have played a lot of ODI cricket as to what kind of attitude and mindset [to have] like that,” Rohit said of Suryakumar. “It is important to give a batter like him the cushion of extra games so that he finds that groove and gets that confidence. The way he started the IPL this year, in the first four-five games he did not have too many runs. But look what he did after that.
“For a player like him, it is our job to create such a situation and scenario: ‘It’s okay, if you don’t do well in two-three games, we are okay [with it], but when you come off, we know that you will win games straightaway’.
“That is what he did in the third T20I [against West Indies], the batters at the top got out and for Surya to go and bat like that it is a different format. But we will also have to see how long we can stretch this (having Suryakumar at No. 4 in ODIs).”
Looking ahead to the Asia Cup, where India open their tournament on September 2 against Pakistan, Rohit touched upon the need to answer “a lot of questions” while also wanting to win. India’s squad is yet to be named and the selectors will also keep an eye on how Jasprit Bumrah and Prasidh Krishna go in Ireland in three T20Is starting August 18.
As things stand, a contingent of around 20 players is likely to assemble in Bengaluru for a conditioning camp at the NCA prior to departure for the Asia Cup. “We will see, we want to win but at the same time there are a lot of questions that we need answers of,” Rohit said. “But in the Asia Cup, I want to see some of the guys batting under pressure against quality teams.
“I still want to see those things, so we will wait and see what happens, but it is always nice to have a lot of names, rather than just one or two names. I hope they are fit in time – firstly that is the most important.”
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