Pujara feels India 'need a couple of series' to figure out Kohli's replacement

Virat Kohli's retirement from Tests poses an immediate question to India: who will be their next No. 4? And it's a question that might need some time to be answered, in the opinion of Cheteshwar Pujara.

"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, I think it's still a spot where the team management will have to figure out who is the most suited player at No. 4."

It's a dilemma India haven't faced in over a decade - they have played 115 Tests since Sachin Tendulkar's retirement, and Kohli batted at No. 4 in 99 of them; Ajinkya Rahane - with nine such appearances - comes next. In the last series that Kohli missed entirely - the home Tests against England in early 2024 - India used as many as four batters at two-down: KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar (in two Tests) and Devdutt Padikkal.

Pujara, who slotted in at No. 4 in seven Tests between 2015 and 2023, believes it might be prudent for India to "take some time" before settling in on a candidate. "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."

India's first assignment as they begin life after Kohli and Rohit Sharma is a five-match tour of England in June, which will also kickstart the new ICC World Test Championship cycle.

"It's still early days to make a call, 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," Pujara said.

Could Shubman Gill - who is also in line to take over the Test captaincy following Rohit's retirement - be an option? "He [Gill] is an option, definitely. But he has been batting at No. 3," he said. "Does he want to shift his spot? Does he want to bat at No. 4? We'll have to see.

"Shubman is someone who is more capable of playing the new balls. 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."

Gill is yet to bat outside the top three in 32 Tests since making his debut in December 2020. He spent most of his early days opening, before shifting down to No. 3 at the start of the previous WTC cycle in 2023. Pujara reckons Gill is best suited to staying in the top order, but wouldn't rule out a move to No. 4.

"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.

"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."