Sri Lanka vs India 2017: 5 questions India need to answer in the ODI series

#3 Who will bat at Number 4?

Yuvraj Singh is rested for the series and is uncertain for the World Cup

That’s where I bat, the middleorder. That’s somewhere I have been batting for long time. The game I played in Australia, I batted No.4, that’s where I normally bat, and that’s where I know how many overs I have to play. That’s where I have batted in my entire career: Manish Pandey

Batting slots number 1 and 2: Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, the most consistent opening pair in the world.

Batting slot number 3: Kohli, best limited-overs batsman in the world.

Batting slot number 4: ......

This is where the seamless fairy-tale abruptly steps into a confusing story. Lokesh Rahul, Yuvraj Singh, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik are the batsmen contesting for that spot.

This question might be an extension of the first in this list if Kohli decides to throw caution to the world and promote MS Dhoni to number 4. Then, 3-down becomes a spot for which the aforementioned cricketers will compete with more names like Pandya, Kedar Jadhav and Rishabh Pant.

If Suresh Raina manages to make a comeback to the side, he will also be a contender for the middle-order.

Being privy to too many options isn't always a good thing, and the number 4 situation is a perfect example of that. Kohli needs to find a permanent answer to this as soon as possible so that the batsman he settles for gets a substantial amount of time in that position.

The Indian skipper has Rahul, Rahane and Pandey at his disposal for the Sri Lanka series. With his trial-time running out with every passing match, he must make the hard choice straight off.