Much of the focus ahead of the latest tournament has been on three star players – batters Rohit Sharma, the captain, and Virat Kohli for their poor recent form (in Test cricket); and vice-captain and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah for a back injury he picked up in Australia which has now been confirmed to keep him out of the group stage.

But flying slightly under the radar is how India will go about constructing their middle-order; only a headache because of the embarrassment of riches they have.

Between Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya, one might have to miss out.

During India's last major ODI tournament, the World Cup in 2023, their players at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 were Iyer, Rahul and Pandya, who slotted in seamlessly thanks to Pant's absence through injury. No.7 went to the spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, and India picked Shardul Thakur as a pace bowler who could bat a bit at No.8. The specialist bowlers were two pacers and one spinner.

Once Pandya picked up a tournament-ending injury against Bangladesh, India had to make two changes to replace his impact in the two departments – Suryakumar Yadav came in as a batter, while Mohammed Shami replaced Thakur.

This change brought India's available bowling options down from six to five, and reduced their batting depth from No.8 to No.7. But all five bowlers could now largely be depended upon to bowl their full quota of 10 overs, and the seven batters were still top-quality players.

Read more: Wisden’s 2024 Men’s ODI Team of the Year

If India go into the Champions Trophy with the same template to the World Cup, i.e., batting to No.8 and having six bowling options, Pant's return gives them a problem of plenty.

Their squad has not been announced yet, but he is expected to be part of it. Whether he makes the XI is a different thing, but India may well be tempted to play him in order to break up the litany of right-handers. Going with Rohit-Gill-Kohli-Iyer-Rahul-Pandya will result in a top six consisting entirely of right-handed batters: it didn't hurt them during the World Cup, but they also didn't have much of a choice there.

Rishabh Pant vs Shreyas Iyer: Not a straightforward swap

So far, 17 of Pant's 27 ODI innings have seen him bat at No.4, and seen him collect 498 runs at an average of 31 and strike rate of 97. Iyer is the incumbent No.4, and this looks like a simple swap given Pant's left-handedness, and the uncertainty over Iyer's standing with the BCCI after he lost his central contract a year ago.

Also read: Gilchrist: Bradman's average would have been much lower had he played Bumrah

But equally, Iyer was picked for the ODI tour of Sri Lanka last year, and has been one of India's standout batters in the 50-over format. He's one of the country's best hitters of spin bowling (finger spin in particular), and any of his shortcomings against fast, short-pitched bowling are unlikely to be exposed when India play in the UAE.

His World Cup campaign also flew under the radar somewhat – 530 runs at an average over 65 and strike rate over 110 is an incredible campaign in any era and conditions.

Shreyas Iyer – ODI batting record against each bowling type

To add to that, his recent form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy has been excellent, having been dismissed just once in five innings, and scoring 325 runs including two centuries. Leaving him out of the Indian 50-over team is far easier said than done.

Could Pant come in for KL Rahul or Hardik Pandya?

The latter, not so much. It is true that since Gautam Gambhir took over as head coach, India have liked to strengthen and lengthen their batting lineups (sometimes to their detriment), but in both white-ball formats their XIs have tended towards having multiple bowling options – sometimes as many as seven or eight. Dropping Pandya for Pant would likely see them go in with just five, so is highly unlikely.

So, is it then a keeper-for-keeper shootout? Perhaps.

In the tour of Sri Lanka after the T20 World Cup last year (the only three ODIs India played in the calendar year), Pant warmed the bench for the first two matches as Rahul took the gloves. Pant then replaced the Karnataka man in the final match, which may suggest the team management see these two as competing for one spot. It's not enough to say that with any degree of certainty, though.

On numbers, it's hard to make a case for playing Pant over Rahul. As has been the pattern throughout his career, Rahul has been shifted up and down, and batted everywhere in the top seven for India. But comparing these two at No.s 4 and 5, the potential vacant spots, Rahul offers an assurance of returns that Pant does not, even if the left-hander may score quicker.

ODI batting record at No.4 & No.5

In a batting lineup that does not want for aggressive strokemakers, the importance of Pant's singular, even marginal, advantage of scoring quicker than Rahul is probably diminished. Rahul may also be the player India want to reconstruct an innings in case of a collapse – as he did alongside Kohli in their World Cup opener against Australia in Chennai.

The facts of the case, as they were, are that Pant has no convincing case over any of India's incumbents in the middle-order. The major point in his favour is his left-handedness.

One wonders if this might factor more heavily into their thinking than we suggest, seeing as they showed a real affinity for the right-left combination in Sri Lanka. In that case, India might be tempted into replacing Rahul with Pant. In case Iyer does not make it to the final squad, then there is a slot for Pant at No.4.

It's the best kind of problem for India to have, and at this point there's little to suggest that they need to move away from what has worked for them very recently. It's harsh, and quite incredible, to leave a talent like Pant on the bench seeing as he would walk in to any other middle-order in the competition.

But at this point, that looks like the most sensible course of action.

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