India's No. 4 Conundrum Begins as Kohli Exits Test Stage: Pujara Calls for Patience

With Virat Kohli’s retirement from Test cricket, India now faces a question it hasn’t had to answer in over a decade: who will bat at No. 4? It’s a role long defined by stability and brilliance—first under Sachin Tendulkar, then seamlessly continued by Kohli across 99 of India’s 115 Tests since 2013. Now, with that anchor gone, India enters uncertain territory, and Cheteshwar Pujara believes there’s no quick fix.

“We will need a couple of series to figure out who is well suited to bat at No. 4, because it’s an important position,” Pujara told ESPNcricinfo. “You need your best batter to bat at No. 4. And at this time, it’s still a spot where the team management will have to figure out who is the most suited player.”

India briefly faced this problem during the England series at home in early 2024, when Kohli was unavailable. In his absence, the selectors rotated KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, and Devdutt Padikkal through the position. None of them definitively claimed it, highlighting the challenge ahead.

Pujara, who has himself slotted in at No. 4 on seven occasions between 2015 and 2023, believes India needs to be patient before settling on a permanent successor. “There are a lot of players who are making their way into the playing XI, no one has a secured spot at this stage. It’s a process which will take some time,” he said.

India’s first Test assignment in the post-Kohli era is a five-match tour of England in June, also marking the start of the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. It could be a trial by fire for whoever takes up the mantle at No. 4. “It’s still early days to make a call,” Pujara said. “But it will be important to see who performs well in England because someone who can perform well in England can have that No. 4 spot.”

One of the names in the mix is Shubman Gill, who is also in the frame for Test captaincy following Rohit Sharma’s retirement. Gill has so far batted only in the top three across his 32-Test career, beginning as an opener and shifting to No. 3 at the start of the last WTC cycle. Pujara considers Gill “definitely an option” for the vacant spot but raises important tactical concerns.

“Shubman is someone who is more capable of playing the new balls,” Pujara said. “He has been opening the innings earlier, before he started batting at No. 3. He prefers to bat when the ball is slightly hard and new. Will he be able to manage with the old ball? That is a big question at this stage.”

Despite his reservations, Pujara doesn’t rule out the idea. “If he bats at No. 4 in England and if he can be successful at that position, then, yes, he can be a No. 4 for the Indian team,” he said. “But since he has batted well with the new ball, I would still say that he should be batting in [the] top three, which is his ideal position, which suits him well.”

As India embarks on a new Test chapter without two of its most influential modern greats, the search for a long-term No. 4 is more than just about filling a position—it’s about finding someone who can carry the mantle of one of cricket’s most crucial roles. And as Pujara warns, that answer won’t come overnight.

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