The Indian team has always produced batsmen who are ready to flex their muscles while opening the batting or batting in the middle-order, but a long-standing problem of wanting a finisher since the departure of MS Dhoni from the team continues to haunt the senior men’s team. During Dhoni’s era, the middle order looked confident and settled. The era of Sachin Tendulkar too blazed while holding onto their strengths as Dhoni took the responsibility to finish off the matches. However, India has tried and tested various lower-order batsmen but Hardik Pandya tops the list. Soon after suffering an injury, Pandya too lost his touch, leaving the space vacant for Venkatesh Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav.

India should majorly focus on creating a pool of finishers who are ready to go from the ball one. Suryakumar Yadav is one of the formidable options but not in terms of the long run, and hence India will look to bank on Venkatesh Iyer for the role who has bagged the opportunity decently during the West Indies series. The ability of Shahrukh Khan, too, makes him a preferred choice to do the responsibility; thanks to his big-hitting ability.

During the series against Sri Lanka, India may make the most out of their chances to settle the playing XI. Rohit Sharma has earlier clarified how he wants to settle a process that can be overtaken by a capable player. Rohit led side will bank on the left-right duo for the opening slot. As the T-20 world cup is knocking on the door, India may witness the return of the Rohit-Shikhar duo, supported by Virat at 3rd position. Rishab Pant will be expected to bat at 4th followed by Suryakumar Yadav at 5th and Venkatesh Iyer at 6th. The core looks formidable but may even whiff victory in the knockout stages if the bench strength has players who can bat at any order and adapt to the conditions.