With skipper Virat Kohli set to return home after Adelaide's D/N pink-ball encounter, there is uncertainty around who will be Indian team's No.4 from the second Test against Australia. 

Whether it'll be vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane stepping up or the team management will prefer one of Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari or even KL Rahul remains to be seen. 

Read Also: "In Kohli's absence, Rahane should step up and bat at No.4 in Tests", says Manjrekar 

Amid speculations, cricketing legends Sunil Gavaskar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting discussed who they feel could be given the all-important slot. 

"Virat’s obviously there only for the first Test then you’d expect Rahane to take over (as captain) but they (India) have to find someone to bat at No.4. Who do you expect to take that No.4 spot?" asked former Australia skipper Ponting, who was the host of the panel discussion aired on '7 cricket', who are official broadcaster for the Test series. 

In response, Gavaskar said, "It looks to me it could be KL Rahul. Or no, actually I think Rahane will go at No.4 once Virat goes away."

"Then you might have Rahul bat at No.5 or Shubman Gill."

With Rahul not featuring in any of the two pre-series warm-up games, it seems he is out of contention. Gill could be asked to open the innings in the first Test starting next Thursday (December 17) ahead of struggling Prithvi Shaw after scoring a fine half-century in the second innings of the ongoing 2nd warm-up game at the SCG. 

However, it remains unclear what happens when Kohli leaves? whether Gill will remain at the top or will Shaw open with his U-19 teammate slotted in the middle-order. 

Vihari has batted at No.4 in both the warm-up matches in Kohli's absence, while Rahane has stayed at his usual No.5 spot. 

Gavaskar, meanwhile, also spoke in context of India's maiden away pink-ball outing and said Australia, with greater experience of the new version, will certainly hold the upper hand. 

The Indian team have only played one previous D/N Test when they hosted Bangladesh in Kolkata last November, whereas the Australians have had regular exposure of it at the domestic and international levels. 

"I would think whoever bats well is going to win the game. Australia has played a lot of (day-night) matches, they have the experience of knowing exactly what happens when the sun’s going down and how to bat and bowl at that particular point of time," said the Indian batting maestro.