Shastri names Iyer for much-debated number 4 spot

St. Johns: Head coach Ravi Shastri has for the time put an end to the debate over the No.4 spot in the Indian batting line-up by identifying Shreyas Iyer as the man for the job.
Impressed with the pool of talented youngsters coming up the ranks in Indian cricket, Shastri — while speaking to Times of India — said Iyer will continue to bat at No. 4 in ODIs for India.
“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,” said Shastri who has been reappointed as the head coach till World 2021 T20. Iyer batted at number five during the just-concluded ODI series against the West Indies and scored 71 and 65 in the two innings he played. Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant was India’s number four but he failed to grab the opportunities and scored 20 and 0 in the two ODIs which India won riding on the back of consecutive centuries scored by skipper Virat Kohli. Kohli, after the third ODI against the West Indies, said that 24-year-old Iyer has presented a strong case for himself to be a regular feature of the team in the limited-overs format.
Earlier, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar also advocated for Iyer to bat at No.4. “In my view, Rishabh Pant is much better like M.S. Dhoni at 5 or 6 as a finisher because that’s where his natural game and natural flair will come into play,” Gavaskar had said. “If India get to a great start with Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma batting for 40-45 overs, then Pant at No. 4. But if it’s a question of batting for 30-35 overs, then I think it should be Shreyas Iyer at No. 4 and Pant at No. 5,” he had said. The number four slot has been one of India’s biggest worries in recent times. Ambati Rayudu, who had been playing at that spot in recent years, was dropped before the World Cup and in his place, Pant and Vijay Shankar were tried out during the quadrennial event.
However, they didn’t manage to impress the team management and questions were raised about their ability to do justice to the role.Shreyas Iyer presently captains Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League. A right-handed top-order batsman, Iyer has played One Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals for the India national cricket team. In 2014 Iyer represented Trent Bridge Cricket Team during a trip of the U.K., he played three matches scoring 297 runs at an average of 99 with a highest score of 171, a new team record. In February 2015, Iyer was signed in the 2015 IPL players auction by the Delhi Daredevils for 2.6 crores (approximately $430,000). Thus Iyer became the highest earning uncapped player in the tournament. He scored 439 runs in 14 matches, with a 33.76 average and a strike rate of 128.36, making him the 9th most consistent player and Emerging Player of 2015 IPL.
He was retained by Delhi Daredevils in the 2018 IPL Auction. On 25 April 2018, he was announced as the new captain of Delhi Daredevils replacing Gautam Gambhir. On 27 April 2018, he became the youngest captain to lead the Delhi Daredevils team in the IPL history at the age of 23 years and 142 days. (IANS)