After a 17-match winning streak in the ICC white-ball tournament, India lost their first match against South Africa at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. After the match, there was a lot of criticism of the batting approach of the Men in Blue team and also questions were raised about the playing eleven in the game.
Ahead of the next game against Zimbabwe at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Thursday, former India batsman Subramaniam Badrinath has shared his views on India’s playing XI against Chevron in the mid-week. Badrinath believes that Sanju Samson should come to the team in place of Tilak Verma.
‘Sanju Samson should replace Tilak Verma’ Subramaniam Badrinath
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Subramaniam Badrinath said, “Sanju Samson should replace Tilak Verma. Let’s not forget, the Chennai crowd will support Sanju Samson (against Zimbabwe).”
Tilak Verma’s batting was not the best as he got out after playing some poor shots last night. Sanju Samson was dropped from the team due to his poor form and Ishan Kishan, who was having a sensational World Cup campaign, failed against the Proteas and was out for a duck. Suryakumar Yadav’s team is full of left-handed batsmen.
India is full of left handed batsmen
The Indian team now has six left-handed players, three of whom are at the top: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Verma. Teams have taken note of this and have made good plans to get the top order out early by using an off-spinner in the very first over. Therefore, Sanju Samson should be brought into the team to change the dynamics.
However, Abhishek Sharma’s bat has been cool with three zeroes and one 15 last evening. The southpaw has an average of 3.75 and a strike rate of 75. Subramaniam Badrinath feels he still deserves a chance, as he has been a match-winner for India in recent times, and can turn things around if he gets his rhythm back.
Badrinath further said, “India’s top three has been failing for quite some time now. How will India deal with off-spin in the powerplay? This 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 needs an X-factor player like him.”
India needs a change in its batting order
India should go back to their old opening combination of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma and bring in Ishan Kishan at No. 3. Another change they can make to keep the left-handed right-handed combination in the game is to bring in Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4, and then the rest can bat as per the match situation.
Under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir, it has been seen that except the openers, all other batsmen have been rotated and sent up the order as per the game situation. However, Sanju has also been in poor form with an average of just 11.62 in the last six matches.
But Sanju has been in and out of the team, which has affected him mentally as well. He was dropped to fit Shubman Gill into the team. Now the match is in Chennai and being a part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team, Sanju will understand the conditions better.
Also read: Ajinkya Rahane hits out at Gautam Gambhir for choosing Washington Sundar over Axar Patel
