Gautam Gambhir with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi during practice session; Sanju Samson during the first T20I vs Afghanistan. (PTI/ANI Photos)
As openers, you want to give a good start as an opener,” said Sharma, whose 82-run knock earned him the Player of the Match. But one or two (bad) series won’t define our batting. NEW DELHI: India T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer called having to pick between Sanju Samson , Vaibhav Sooryanshi and Abhishek Sharma as a “luxury to have for any side. More often than not, the challenge is to pick between Samson and Sooryavanshi. One brings experience, and the other brings a no-holds-barred approach. “I still remember two years back, we decided we want to play a certain way and dominate all teams. It worked for a year.
When it came to it, Sanju Samson scored just 10 runs from 8 balls with two boundaries to show for it. On a surface that needed patience before getting going, as Abhishek Sharma demonstrated with a 32-ball 82, the 31-year-old had not made the most of the opportunity. We have one of the best batting line-ups and our top-8 can take on any spinner in the world. The sole reason Sooryavanshi was included in squads for Ireland and England, and fast-tracked into the Indian team at all of 15, was to give wings to this sensational talent.
“That is more difficult, I feel, but I would say if Vaibhav (Sooryavanshi) is not playing, then Washington (Sundar) is not playing and there are two more which you’ll get to know,” he said on managing team combinations and selecting players for the match. So, yeah, I feel for the spinners,” said the spinner who had an economical return from injury. As the team went into a huddle and emerged, both Samson and Sooryavanshi found their way onto the dugout. Both kept their poker faces well. Ishan Kishan, one of the wicketkeeping options in the squad, spoke for a considerable period with batting coach Sitanshu Kotak. His brief stay in the middle was halted by Azmatullah Omarzai, giving catching practice to Darwish Rasooli at deep square leg in the process. “Against our team, batting line-up, you can’t bowl spin. So, if you bowl spin against our batting line-up, they are just going to smack (you) left, right and centre. We are so used to playing spinners. I have personally bowled against them, played against them. I know how hard it is. The question, however, persists over Sooryavanshi’s place in the team and the long-term approach in the format. Samson’s presence adds a wicketkeeping option and a left-right pairing at the top of the order. But, with all due respect to Samson’s abilities, it steals what can be a game-changing and game-deciding pairing of Abhishek-Sooryavanshi. Not playing him, in favour of Samson’s experience, does grave disservice to him, his talent and Indian cricket at large.
