India’s implosion to be bowled out for 125 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the second T20I of their series against Australia raised some concerns about India’s plans and tactics on such surfaces. Particularly, eyebrows were raised about the batting order, which was experimented with but failed to have the pay-off for India.
Sanju Samson was once again in focus, promoted back up to number three despite earlier indications from the Indian camp being that he would need to learn how to bat in the middle order if he wishes to be in the T20I team.
The numerous problems with India’s tactical approach in Melbourne were raised by former all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who also claimed that Surykumar Yadav must set himself as the number three batter and not move.
“As for Sanju Samson, if he keeps moving up and down the batting order like this, I’m not sure how effective that will be,” Pathan said on his Youtube channel.
“I know that in T20 cricket, apart from the openers, no one really has a fixed position and flexibility is important. But in the name of flexibility, you shouldn’t become so elastic that you lose the stability that comes with having defined roles. That’s something the Indian team really needs to pay attention to,” warned Pathan.
Pathan highlights issue with shuffling order
{{/usCountry}}“I know that in T20 cricket, apart from the openers, no one really has a fixed position and flexibility is important. But in the name of flexibility, you shouldn’t become so elastic that you lose the stability that comes with having defined roles. That’s something the Indian team really needs to pay attention to,” warned Pathan.
Pathan highlights issue with shuffling order
{{/usCountry}}India also experimented with the entry point of Shivam Dube, who came in after Harshit Rana. This was another experiment that didn’t work, as Dube was dismissed in two balls when he did reach the crease.
“When you keep changing a player’s role repeatedly, things naturally change. Playing against the older ball in the middle overs, which Sanju Samson did during the Asia Cup, is very different from opening the innings, where he had scored three centuries,” explained Pathan about why this lack of clarity presented as many drawbacks as it did advantages. “It requires a different mindset and a lot of mental strength, along with strong backing from the team.”
Finally, Pathan had a stern warning for Samson to find an innings with good runs in this series in Australia, stating that support was likely to dry up for him if he couldn’t get good performances under his belt.
“There’s no doubt he’s getting the support he needs. But that support can fade quickly if a player has three or four failures in a row. Hopefully, that won’t happen with Sanju Samson,” concluded the former all-rounder.