In the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali, the middle order looked different with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane out of the squad due to a string of low scores. Hanuma Vihari batted at No. 3 and hasn’t done badly in the limited opportunities he has had. His fifty demonstrated that he is more than capable of batting at No. 1.
Against New Zealand, Shreyas Iyer batted at No. 5 and has looked like a million bucks since his Test debut. The right choice for Iyer would be to bat at No. 5, according to Gavaskar. Against Sri Lanka, he scored three fifties in a row before scoring a century on debut against New Zealand. ”When India plays at home, Mayank Agarwal always scores big. Overseas, he doesn’t score as many runs as he does in India. A big hundred or double century is not uncommon for him in the home series. Therefore, he should open. Vihari is at No. 3. During India’s second innings in South Africa, he added runs defiantly by steadying the tail and batting defiantly. It’s only fair to give him an opportunity,” stated Gavaskar during a recent interview.
”Among the top five should be Shreyas Iyer, given his form in the white-ball series against the Lankans and the way he started his Test career in December against New Zealand,” concluded Gavaskar.
