‘Rahul, Rohit have plenty of choices…’: Sourav Ganguly makes surprising no. 4 picks for India's World Cup squad

livemint.com:

ODI World Cup 2023, former India captain Sourav Ganguly has said that the current Indian team is a "fantastic side" and urged captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid to give young players opportunities to solve India's middle-order problems. Notably, Shreyas Iyer has been India's designated number 4 batter but the young Indian batter has been out of action for a while since suffering a back injury in March this year. Another contender for the number 4 spot, Rishabh Pant, has also been missing from action after suffering a car accident last year.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma also recently spoke about the issues for the Men in Blue ahead of the all-important ODI World Cup starting in October. Sharma said, “Unfortunately, injuries have given him a bit of trouble; he (Shreyas Iyer) has been out for a while and that is honestly what has happened in the last 4-5 years. A lot of these guys have got injured and you will always see a new guy coming and playing there." Speaking on the sidelines of a Denver event, Ganguly said that there are a lot of Indian players who can take up the number 4 spot.

He was quoted ANI as saying, "Who said we don't have a No. 4? We have so many (batsmen) who can bat at that spot. I think differently; my mindset is different.

This is a fantastic side," In particular, Ganguly was bullish about young left-handed batters like Tilak Varma, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ishan Kishan. He said,"It has to be a team of experience and people who don't have any scars -- like (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, (Tilak) Varma, Ishan Kishan. They can go and play fearless cricket.