Former Indian cricket team opener Virender Sehwag believes that Shreyas Iyer has cemented his spot in the playing XI for the Cricket World Cup 2023 after a sensational century against Australia in the recently-concluded ODI series. Iyer looked in good touch and with the impressive knock in the second ODI encounter, Sehwag picked him to bat at No. 4 for India. The legendary batter further picked KL Rahul to bat at No. 5 and all-rounder Hardik Pandya to bat at No. 6 at the World Cup. As a result, he said that both Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav missed out to the form of the other established batters.
“At No. 6 and 7 KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya will be there. So Suryakumar won't be there at either of those positions. There is No. 5 though. But if Hardik Pandya is your sixth bowler then Rahul will bat at No. 5, and Hardik at No. 6, then comes the bowlers. We thought Ishan Kishan could fit in somewhere in the line-up, but that hundred which Shreyas Iyer scored, if he plays at No. 4 then it will be Iyer, Rahul and Hardik at No. 4, 5 and 6 respectively,” Sehwag said during an interaction on Cricbuzz.
However, Sehwag also pointed out that in case a slot opens up in the Indian cricket team middle-order, Kishan will be preferred because of the lack of left-handed batting options in the side at the moment.
“Now it depends on how India look at this combination, whether they feel Hardik will certainly bowl 10 overs because that will give India an extra bowler. So then Suryakumar cannot fit in there and even if there is a slot, then Ishan should be picked ahead because he is a left-hander,” he added.
India will play their first match in Cricket World Cup 2023 against Australia on October 8.