Either the selectors don't know what to do with middle order or the team management is just rigid with the players that they want in the team. Neither Shreyas Iyer nor Manish pandey will give you runs batting at number 5 in a T20 match simply because that is not the position that they are comfortable with. They both are number 3 players and at most, you can have them at number 4. Anything lower than that is just not going to work in my opinion. Looking at the squad picked for this series, I don't see them batting in top 4 unless Dhawan is not playing. None of them can start hitting from ball 1 and require some time to settle in before they get going. If you ask me, I don't even think Manish Pandey deserves to be in T20 squad right now. Even though he did hit some form for Sunrisers at the end of their IPL campaign and finally looked like he was getting in the rhythm, he was very average before that. At some stages, it almost looked like he forgot how to bat.
Firs thing India need to do in T20 is just change the way they play. Saving wickets to hit later might work in ODI's but that definitely won't work in T20's. We have Rohit, Dhawan, Kohli who all take time before they get going and they are our top 3. I like the fact that now we have players in KL Rahul, Pant, Hardik who can get going form first ball because that is the approach India has to go for in T20's. In my opinion the max number of players you should have in your T20 line-up is 2 but right now we have 3 and we are likely to add one more in either Pandey/Iyer. Give license to either one of Dhawan or Rohit to go after the bowling from ball 1. Dhawan might be more suited to this role as I feel Rohit usually struggles when he goes after the bowlers straight away.
Dhawan
Rohit
Kohli
Rahul
Iyer/Pandey
Pant
Krunal
Deepak Chahar/Saini
Rahul Chahar
Bhuvi
Khaleel
This is the line-up I feel the management will go with but If you are playing Pant any lower than 4 or 5 then you are wasting him. I think Dhawan did find some groove in T20 format in the last couple of years but it's just that we have three same type of players in our top 3 which doesn't make it easier for him. Now that they have picked Dhawan in the squad, I don't see how they are not going to play him in the final 11.
In my ideal T20 line-up, I would throw Pant to open the inning and take advantage of powerplay with Rahul. I know it is a risk but then you can follow that opening pair with your two most experienced players in Kohli and Rohit. So if the plan doesn't work and if they both get out early, you have your best players rebuilding for you. If we do go ahead with this strategy, one worrying aspect for me here is that I can't think of a single Indian player who can go after bowlers and plays at that number 5 position. I just feel that number 5 is one position higher than where I would like to see Hardik bat. I had very high hopes from Deepak Hooda but he hasn't done anything in the last few years. One other name that popped into my mind is Suryakumar Yadav. He plays good cricket shots but can also be unorthodox if required. However, seeing him in the last few years at Mumbai, I do feel he is now limited to that top 4 position. The only safe bets are Kedar Jadhav/Dinesh Karthik. Ideally, I would not put either of them or Dhoni (If he returns) in this position but as I said, in my opinion, we just don't have anyone in India right now who can bat at that position. One option that I see is if Prithvi Shaw becomes a little more consistent in T20 cricket, we can push Pant to number 5.
Pant/Rohit
Rahul
Kohli
Rohit/Pant
?
Hardik
Krunal
Sundar/Jadeja
Bhuvi/Saini/Deepak Chahar
Kuldeep/Chahal/Rahul Chahar
Bumrah