KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Ruturaj Gaikwad all sit ahead of Naman Dhir for the middle slots, and his route in is a role rather than a ranking. He has batted once in ODIs, making 30 off 21 balls in the third West Indies match, but his off-spin hands India a sixth bowling option the others cannot match. Selectors are chasing balance as much as runs, and that is Dhir’s opening. The next 11 one-day games before IPL 2027 will show whether it is enough.
A Debut Built on Bowling
Dhir, 26, won his cap on 27 September in Thiruvananthapuram, though India were chasing in each of the first two games and he never reached the crease. His first real contribution came with the ball, 6.1 overs of off-spin in the second match that ended when he twisted his left ankle. The List A numbers behind him are 351 runs in 14 games at 39.00 with a strike rate of 106.36.
In the third ODI on 3 October, he finally batted, hitting 30 off 21 balls and adding 65 with KL Rahul. India’s plan for him is plain enough: bat at six or seven and keep the fifth or sixth bowler’s overs in his pocket. That is a finisher-plus-spinner brief, not a seat in the top five.
A Batting Group Still Rotating
Before the 2025 Champions Trophy, Rahul owned the fourth and fifth slots with a tally of 1,817 ODI runs, average 56.8, while Hardik Pandya, Iyer and Rishabh Pant fought over the rest. In July at Cardiff, Kishan took the fourth slot and Iyer five.
The West Indies series reshuffled things again. Iyer and Kishan were away at the Asian Games, Hardik stayed out until he regains full fitness, and Gaikwad was pencilled in at four. The vacancies are real, but every name filling them looks like a short-term fix.
India ODI World Cup 2027 middle order race
Rahul looks the safest of the group. He had played 98 ODIs before this series and then made an unbeaten 129 in the third match. A batter who still averages above 50 in the format is not easily displaced. Iyer’s career figures are strong, yet nine recent innings have yielded 219 runs, an average of 27.37.
Gaikwad is the curious case. His 5,334 List A runs come at 58.61, but he owns only 228 ODI runs, and his 57 in the third match was a start he must now build on. KL Rahul and Gaikwad figures run to 26 September and Iyer’s to 2 July, while Dhir’s rest on a single innings.
Player | Position | Average | Strike Rate | Bowling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
KL Rahul | 4-5 | 50.73 | 91.08 | None (wicketkeeper) |
Shreyas Iyer | 4-5 | 45.98 | 98.60 | Part-time spin |
Ruturaj Gaikwad | 4 | 28.50 | 89.75 | None noted |
Naman Dhir | 6-7 | 30 (one innings) | 142.86 | Off-spin |
A Sixth Bowler Changes the Maths
The visitors posted 295/7 in game one and a huge 405/7 in game two, which exposes any side with only five reliable bowlers. Kuldeep Yadav claimed 4/40 in the opener, while Nitish Kumar Reddy, a right-arm seamer of medium pace, had yet to take an ODI wicket by July.
Dhir is the cheaper way to fill that gap. He credited Ravindra Jadeja with simple plans centred on the hitter in front of him and the state of the game, which suggests the coaching group already sees him as a bowler first. In a series where totals that big appear, extra overs from a batter are never a luxury, and they let India pick an extra specialist elsewhere.
Eleven Matches To Make the Case
Eleven ODIs remain before IPL 2027. New Zealand hosts five of them between 4 and 15 November, Sri Lanka visit for three games spread across 13, 16 and 19 December, while Zimbabwe follow with 3, 6 and 9 January. Between them, they form the whole runway before the franchise season takes over. The World Cup itself opens on 2 October 2027 and closes on 21 November.
Dhir wants steady batting time down the order, plus bowling spells that earn trust, while his addition to the T20I squad keeps him visible. Whether that is enough to move him up the India ODI World Cup 2027 middle order race depends on how many of those chances arrive, and on whether the names above stumble.
Would Dhir’s bowling be enough to earn a World Cup place ahead of a proven batter? Share your pick in the comments.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Will Naman Dhir make India’s 2027 World Cup squad?
That is undecided, as no squad has been named yet. He is part of the current ODI group, so the eleven matches before IPL 2027 serve as his real audition.
What job does Dhir do in India’s ODI side?
He bats at six or seven and bowls off-spin as the fifth or sixth option. That dual role is why selectors keep him close, though his batting sample is still a single innings.
Who bats at six and seven for India?
Nobody owns those spots yet. The men batting after Rahul in the third match against West Indies included Dhir, Reddy and Anshul Kamboj, which shows how open the lower middle still is.
Is Dhir more than a batter?
Yes, he doubles as an off-spin option. His 6.1 overs came during the second game with the West Indies, and an ankle twist ended that spell, though India still rate the bowling as part of his value.
Which countries host the 2027 ODI World Cup, and when does it start?
It starts on 2 October 2027 and runs to 21 November. South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia are the three host countries sharing the tournament between them.