“Look, No. 4 has been an issue for us for a long time,” Rohit said at an event in Mumbai to announce the new La Liga season. “For a long time, Shreyas (Iyer) has really batted at No. 4 and he has done well – his figures are really good.
“There were a lot of guys who came in and out. But injuries kept them away or they were not available or someone lost form. Shreyas and KL (Rahul) haven’t been playing anything for four months, big injuries, surgeries. Instead of. Both of them had surgeries. I know, I had to undergo surgery once and how it feels after that, it’s quite difficult. We have to see how they react, what they do.”
Of Iyer’s 38 ODI innings, 20 have come at No. 4, in which he has scored 805 runs at an average of 47.35, including two centuries and five half-centuries. But he has been battling injuries and has not played any form of cricket since March this year, when a back injury turned serious which required surgery and made him miss the IPL.
“Unfortunately, injuries have troubled him a bit; he has been out for a while and to be honest, that’s what has happened in the last four-five years,” Rohit said. “A lot of these guys have been injured and you’ll always see a new player come in there and play.
“The percentage of injuries in the last four-five years has been huge. When players get injured or are not available, you try to do different things with different players – I think about No. 4. This is what has to be said.”
“He’s been working really hard, and he’s been talking to a lot of guys who have played a lot of ODI cricket about what kind of attitude and mindset one should have,” Rohit said of Suryakumar. “It is important to give a batsman like him extra games so that he can get the rhythm and gain confidence. The way he started the IPL this year, he did not have too many runs in the first four-five games. But Look what he did after that.
“For a player like him, it is our job to create such a situation and scenario: ‘It’s okay, if you don’t perform well in two-three matches, we have no problem (with it), but when you are bad. Let’s go, we know you will win the game outright.
As things stand, a squad of around 20 players is likely to assemble in Bengaluru for a conditioning camp at the NCA before leaving for the Asia Cup. Rohit said, “We will see, we want to win but at the same time there are many questions which we need answers to.” “But in the Asia Cup, I want to see some players bat under pressure against quality teams.
“I still want to see those things, so we’ll wait and see what happens, but it’s always good to have a lot of names rather than just one or two. I hope they fit in over time – First of all, this is the most important.”