Indian cricketer Shikhar Dhawan joined the discussion of India's no.4 batter in the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 on Thursday, August 10. The Indian cricket team is facing a dilemma over their potential options in the middle order ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 and then the ODI World Cup at home.
Both Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul remain at National Cricket Academy (NCA) due to injuries but reportedly showing positive signs of recovery. But the duo is likely to miss the Asia Cup which starts on August 30 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Captain Rohit Sharma and young starlet Shubman Gill are likely to be India's first-choice openers in the upcoming ODIs with Virat Kohli playing in his natural no.3 position. But after that, the management has no clue about the rest of the batting order. Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel were utilized in no.4 and no.5 positions in the recent ODIs against West Indies but no one made considerable impact to claim the position.
However, out-of-favour Shikhar Dhawan believes that Suryakumar will be his choice for the no.4 spot in the ICC World Cup. Shikhar's statement comes as a surprise as the world no.1 T20I batter has struggled to perform in 50-over international cricket despite being given consistent chances. Suryakumar has scored 511 runs in 26 ODIs at an average of 24.33 but is likely to be part of India's ODI team in the upcoming events.
"I would go with Surya at four as he is an experienced player and has been playing international cricket for a while. Also, really looking forward to see how Shubman Gill does in the World Cup. Another batter to watch out for will be Rohit Sharma as he did exceptionally well in the last World Cup," Shikhar Dhawan told PTI on Thursday.
