NEW DELHI: Former India opener Gautam Gambhir hopes that the Indian team management will give a long run to middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, who's part of the India team playing an ODI series in the West Indies.
Iyer is eyeing to seal his spot in the middle-order. He didn't get a chance in the recently concluded three-match T20I series against the Windies which the Men in Blue comfortably won 3-0.
The 24-year-old was included in the playing XI for the first ODI in Guyana on Thursday, but the contest got washed out.
"India have a little bit of a headache in trying to give everyone a game. Shreyas Iyer was scheduled to bat at number four in the previous game which got rained off. He will get another chance in Trinidad. I have spent time with him in the Delhi Capitals' dressing room. He has the setup and the works to succeed at this level," Gambhir wrote in his column for The Times of India.
"I just hope he gets a consistent run rather than a truncated one," he added.
The No. 4 batting spot has been a headache for India for some time now. Ambati Rayudu was considered an option for the position, but he failed to seal the position before calling it quits while Vijay Shankar and Rishabh Pant too tasted little success batting at No. 4.
Iyer is being seen as India's new No. 4 batsman, even though the Delhi Capitals skipper has always maintained that he wanted to be flexible enough to bat at any position.