India will persist with Rishabh Pant at number four in the batting order to avail the left-right advantage in the middle overs, assistant coach Sanjay Bangar said ahead of Tuesday’s Cricket World Cup group match against Bangladesh.

The twice champions were left without a left-hander in the top half of their batting order after a fractured finger ended opened Shikhar Dhawan’s World Cup.

Pant was flown in as Dhawan’s replacement and the 21-year-old finally made his debut in Sunday’s loss to England, scoring 32 after some nervous running between the wickets early in his knock.

“The team management was feeling the absence of a left-hander since Shikhar got injured,” Bangar said, explaining the decision to send Pant ahead of Pandya on Sunday.

“I felt he had a decent innings,” Bangar told reporters at Edgbaston. “He got 32 and played a couple of good shots, got a partnership going , so we’re going to persist with him.”

All-rounder Vijay Shankar, who was originally picked in the squad to bat at number four, has been ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing World Cup with a toe injury, the team said on Monday.

“It was a ploy to use right-left combination in the middle overs to upset the bowling plans. I feel because of that Adil Rashid could not bowl the number of overs he’d have usually bowled.”

Known for his six-hitting prowess, Pant hit a century in an Oval test last year and also smashed an unbeaten 159 against Australia in Sydney in January.