Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has a couple of solutions for the Indian team to address their middle-order problems. With uncertainty over KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer’s fitness ahead of the ODI World Cup, India are facing a huge conundrum.
Captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have tried several combinations to solve the problem but they have yet to find the perfect solution.
If Rahul fails to make the cut, India will also have to hunt for a reliable wicketkeeper-batter.
Hogg provided a couple of options to India if Iyer and Rahul end up missing the bus for the ODI showpiece.
Hogg suggests Ishan can not bat in the middle-order but India can use him as an opener alongside skipper Rohit and picked young Tilak Varma for the role.
“If they’re (Iyer and Rahul) not fit, we need a keeper in this team. I don’t think Ishan Kishan can bat lower down the order. I think he is predominantly an opener,” Hogg said on Instagram.
“If they open with Kishan and Rohit Sharma, I would have Tilak Varma coming in at No. 4. He has hardly played any one-day cricket. But the way he has operated in T20 cricket shows that he has got the goods for any situation,” he added.
He added if India want to stick with Shubman Gill as the opener then the team management could use Sanju Samson for the wicketkeeper-middle order batter role.
“If they go with Gill and Rohit Sharma at the top of the order with Sanju Samson at No. 4 as the Indian keeper going into that World Cup. I think he can offer something substantial in that position,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rahul and Iyer on Monday were seen doing match simulation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, days ahead of the Indian team selection for the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. However, it’s not known if Rahul kept wickets for 50 overs.
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