Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who is currently the president of Cricket Association of Bengal, identified Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey as the probable contenders for India’s No.4 spot, which has given a lot of headache to the team management in the last couple of years.
KL Rahul recently lost his spot in the Indian Test side due to lack of consistency.
“With Rohit and Shikhar at the top as the best possible opening pair, KL Rahul will be pushed. He has lost his place in Test cricket due to indifferent form and the likes of Shreyas and Manish Pandey will keep him on his toes if he wants to hold onto the No. 4 slot,” Ganguly wrote in his column for The Times of India.
Notably, Iyer was preferred over Rahul in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies and the Mumbai right-hander did not disappoint. He scored two half-centuries in the two opportunities he got and forced his way into the Indian T20 side. Iyer’s performance did not go unnoticed. Ganguly said it was because of the ODI performance that Iyer made his way into India’s T20I XI.
“Shreyas Iyer finds a place in the T20 squad, a reward for his good show in the 50-overs games in West Indies,” Ganguly added.
Ganguly said the Indian side has a lot settled batting line-up and with the return of Hardik Pandya, the balance of the side becomes even better. “Hardik makes a comeback and will look to consolidate his place as the premier all-rounder in every format,” added Ganguly.
