Former Indian wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel would like to see Team India promote Deepak Hooda at No.3 instead of Shreyas Iyer for the fourth T20I to be played on August 6. The 37-year-old feels the Men in Blue can bring back Ravindra Jadeja into the playing XI to replace Iyer.
Shreyas Iyer didn't have the best of times in the third T20I as he scored just 24 runs off 27 balls and his struggles against short-pitched bowling again came to the fore. Patel is of the opinion that the in-form Deepak Hooda could be promoted to the No.3 position and Jadeja back to his No.6 slot.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after the end of the third T20I, Parthiv Patel also spoke about the one change that he would like to see in the bowling department. He would bring in Harshal Patel for Avesh Khan if the former has recovered from his rib injury. The 37-year-old said:
"I would bring back Jadeja if he was just resting in place of Shreyas Iyer and would bat Deepak Hooda at No.3. If Harshal Patel is fit enough, then I will bring him back in place of Avesh Khan ( for fourth T20I)."
It was a great opportunity for Shreyas Iyer to score some runs: Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel feels Iyer missed a golden opportunity to score a few runs and remain not out in India's win on Tuesday. Suryakumar Yadav was going all guns blazing at one end, and the 37-year-old reckons all Iyer needed to do was play second fiddle and rotate the strike. He stated:
"It was a great opportunity for him (Iyer) to score some runs and get back into form. He is a much better player than the position he comes into while playing short balls. You don't have to leave your stumps and play the kind of shots he did. So he should back himself to play along the ground. He had a great chance today to slip under the radar, score a run-a-ball and remain not out."
With the likes of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan in the wings, it will be interesting to see how long India persist with Iyer in T20Is.
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