Iyer at four despite Chennai duck

Shreyas Iyer’s No. 4 slot is not under threat from in-form teammate KL Rahul, batting coach Vikram Rathour said on the eve of their World Cup match against Afghanistan. Iyer returned from a back injury recently to reclaim his No. 4 position and scored a three-ball duck in Sunday’s opener against Australia.

Chasing 200 for victory, India were in trouble after both openers -- Ishan Kishan and skipper Rohit Sharma — had fallen before they could open their account. Former India stalwart Yuvraj Singh was aghast at Iyer’s casual drive that David Warner pouched at short cover. “No. 4 batsman has to absorb the pressure,” tweeted Yuvraj, India’s trusted No. 4 for a long time, as he asked for “better thinking” from Iyer when the team is trying to rebuild their innings. Rahul, at No. 5, made an unbeaten 97 to secure India’s victory after forging a match-winning partnership with Virat Kohli in Chennai. Asked if they were tempted to play Rahul ahead of Iyer, Rathour said: “No, not at the moment, because he (Rahul) is doing so well at No. 5 and Shreyas has done really well for us at No. 4. So absolutely no such temptations.”

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