It looks like Indian cricket team has found the No.4 bat for the limited-overs format of the game. Ravi Shastri, the Head Coach of the team has exclusively said to Times of India that Shreyas Iyer will to bat at No.4 for India in one day cricket.
Shreyas Iyer, the new No. 4
It has been quite a long time that the Indian cricket team is looking for the No. 4 bat in ODI. A lot of experiments have been done without any positive outcome. This was one of the major reasons of Indian team failing to register a victory in World Cup 2019. During the selection of Head Coach, this was a major issue that Kapil Dev-led Cricket Advisory Committee was concerned about. According to the reports, they were not satisfied with it before re-appointing Ravi Shastri as the head coach of the Indian cricket team for the next two years – till 2021 T20 World Cup. But Shastri assured them to remove the blot at the soonest.
Speaking exclusively to Times of India, Shastri shared his No.4 bat for India in ODIs. Shreyas Iyer will continue to bat at No. 4 in ODIs for India according to the Head Coach. “One of the areas we concentrated on over the last two years was to blood as many youngsters as possible. Shreyas Iyer, for instance, he is going to stay at No. 4.”
Iyer, although did not bat at No.4 in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against West Indies, showed his ability to handle the pressure. He was very successful batting at No. 5 in the two matches with scores of 71 and 65 whereas Rishabh Pant failed at No. 4.
Aiming for strong reserve
He also said that India will try more youngsters for limited over cricket in the future. He mentioned that the plan to build a strong reserve bench for long term success. “Bench strength is everything if we’re looking at things from a long-term perspective. That constant flow of fresh, young talent has to be there. Be it Rishabh or Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep, Hardik, Mayank, Shankar – they’re there, constantly raising their hands up. That kind of a pool does wonders when the only objective is to ensure you don’t end up with, let’s say, any kind of deadwood,”
