Yuvraj Singh has called for KL Rahul to move up to No.4 in India’s batting order, after Shreyas Iyer was out for a two-ball duck on World Cup debut against Australia today (October 8).
Iyer was the Indians’ third wicket to fall in the first two overs of their chase. He found David Warner at short cover with his hands well away from his body and about to take a reckless drive. His wicket was his third duck of India’s innings, taking India to his 2-3 and his worst start in ODI history.
Reacting to Iyer’s poor shot, former India batsman Yuvraj Singh suggested on X (ex-Twitter) that Rahul should replace Iyer with a four-year-old. He writes: “A No. 4 batsman has to absorb pressure!!” Shreyas Iyer needs to think more as the team tries to rebuild the innings! I still don’t understand why KL Rahul can’t bat at No. 4 you can’t. After he scored 100 against Pakistan!”
No 4 batsman has to absorb the pressure !! Need better thinking from @ShreyasIyer15 when team is trying to rebuild their innings ! Still don’t understand why @klrahul is not batting at no 4 ! After scoring a 100 against Pakistan ! Dropping @imVkohli might cost australia big time…
– Yuvraj Singh (@YUVSTRONG12) 8 2023 October 10
After Iyer’s absence, Rahul forged a strong partnership with Virat Kohli and helped India recover from the early defeat. Rahul has faced No. 4 11 times in ODIs, but has spent most of his career in this format only five times. Across these 11 innings, he averaged 60.12 with two of his six ODI hundreds. At the end of this century, he played against Pakistan in the Asia Cup and in a great partnership with Kohli he scored 111 runs.
Iyer spent most of his ODI career at number four, averaging 43.35. He has already scored his second century in this position, but the last time he achieved that feat was 12 months ago, and today marks his first half-century since then. Masu.
Yuvraj also pointed out in his post how Mitchell Marsh’s departure from Kohli could be costly for Australia. Kohli got an easy chance by clipping the ball to his leg side for 12. Marsh and Alex Carey both approached the ball, but Marsh ultimately dropped the catch and slid across the ground.
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