Renowned Indian commentator Sanjay Manjrekar names his most suited batsman at number 4 for India. The men in blue have tried many batsman at number 4 like Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh but no one has done justice to the position.
Talking on ESPN Cricinfo, the former India cricketer said he would make skipper Virat Kohli bat at number four as they have a good option to play KL Rahul at number 3.
Rahul has been in sublime form right from the IPL season and Manjrekar wants him to be tried at 4, 5 or 6.
“I have a very simple alternative for number four if India wants to find a long-term quality number four batsman, there are just two options I feel – one is the captain himself, who could be brilliant and so KL Rahul comes in as a quality batsman at number three. I don’t see Rahul as a number four, five six,” he said.
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Manjrekar feels Shreyas Iyer can also be a handy customer at number 4.
“The other guy that India could explore as a number four is Shreyas Iyer. I have seen enough of him to know. A number four batsman needs to have all the gears, and most importantly is picking up the ones and the twos and that is where Iyer has the game and if he manages to survive into the last 10 overs he is ought to have the big game which Iyer has.”
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The 53-year old cricketer from Mumbai also said that India can try Rohit Sharma at 4, which was his batting position before the 2013 Champions trophy.
“There is another slightly out-of-the-box alternative – Rohit Sharma bats down the order for Mumbai Indians, so can he be the number four of India as well and have KL Rahul open with Shikhar Dhawan. It’s not about how an individual is feeling about the situation, it has to be about the team. And the team is looking for a number four then they should find the best possible option,” he said.
