India lost their first match against South Africa on Sunday, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, after a 17-match winning streak in the ICC white-ball tournaments. After the match, there were lot of criticism of the batting approach of the Men in Blue side and also questions about the Playing XI in the game as well.
Ahead of the next game against Zimbabwe on Thursday, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, former India batter Subramanium Badrinath has shared his thoughts on India’s playing XI against the Chevrons mid-week. Badrinath feels Sanju Samson should come in for the side, in place of Tilak Varma.
‘Sanju Samson should come in for Tilak Varma’ Subramanium Badrinath
Subramanium Badrinath, while speaking on his YouTube channel, said, “Sanju Samson should come in for Tilak Varma. Let’s not forget, the Chennai crowd will get behind Sanju Samson (against Zimbabwe).”
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Tilak Varma’s batting has not been at his very best as he was out playing a rash shot last night. Sanju Samson was left out due to his poor form, and Ishan Kishan, who was having a sensational World Cup campaign, failed against the Proteas as he was dismissed for a duck. Suryakumar Yadav’s side has been overloaded with left-handers.
India overloaded with left-handers
India has six left-handers in the side now, with three of them being at the top: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and Tilak Varma. Teams have noticed this and have planned well to get rid of the top order early by using an off-spinner in the very first over. So, to change the dynamics, Sanju Samson should be brought into the team.
Though Abhishek Sharma’s bat has been cold with three ducks and a 15 last evening. The Southpaw has an average of 3.75 and a strike rate of 75. Subramanium Badrinath feels that he still deserves a chance, as he has been a match-winner for India in recent times, and he could turn things around if he finds his rhythm back.
Badrinath further added, “India’s top three has been failing for a while now. How are India going to tackle off-spin in the powerplay? It is the right time to bring in Sanju Samson. Abhishek Sharma still deserves a chance. Let him open with Ishan Kishan, and his style of play is such that India does need an X-factor player like him.”
India needs to change their batting order
India should get back to their old combination of opening with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma and bring in Ishan Kishan at No.3. Another change they can make to keep the left-hand right-hand combination going in the game is to bring Suryakumar Yadav at No.4, and then the rest can bat as per the match situation.
Under Gautam Gambhir, it has been seen that, except for the openers, every other batter has been rotated and promoted up the order as per the situation of the game. However, Sanju has also been in a poor run of form with an average of around 11.62 in the last six matches.
But Sanju has been in and out of the team, which has also affected him mentally. He was dropped to fit in Shubman Gill in the side. Now the match is in Chennai, and Sanju, being a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) squad, will know the conditions better.
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