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If one of Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma comes good, the T20 World Cup trophy should be India's
The idea is to put the rest of the batsmen at ease and allow them to play as per the role assigned to them.
It's non-negotiable. India's top-order will have to come to the party one more time if they are to win the T20 World Cup today at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium. This is the most pressing requirement, make no mistake. If this aspect of India's play is ticked today, there is a very strong possibility of India adding a third ICC trophy to their cabinet in less than two years.
There is enough evidence that India's top order is key. This T20 World Cup, India have four games where they have been head and shoulders above. First against Pakistan, left-handed opener Ishan Kishan smashed a 40-ball 77 on a tricky Colombo wicket. India went on to win the match ratther comfortably, by 61 runs.
Against Zimbabwe in what was a must-win encounter for the co-hosts in the Super 8s, opener Abhishek Sharma (55 off 30 balls) took Sikandar Raza's men to the cleaners and set the tone for a big win.
Then against the West Indies, a virtual quarterfinal in the Super 8s, and against England, the semifinal, new opener Sanju Samson scored 97 not out and 89 respectively to show India the way.
And what happened when they flopped?
The only match that India has lost in the tournament so far was against South Africa in the Super 8s where none of the top-order contributed and the team went on to suffer their biggest defeat in the history of the T20 World Cup, by runs that is. Chasing 188 to win, India crashed for just 111. Samson didn't play in that match, and Kishan, Sharma and No.3 Tilak Varma scored 0, 15 and 1. The match was very much done and dusted there.
Even against the USA in what was India's first game of the tournament, the failure – 20, 0 and 25 in the previous order -- of their top order meant they were reeling at 77/6 at one time, before Suryakumar Yadav came to the team's rescue with a 49-ball 84 not out.
But against a top team like New Zealand, the possibility of a rescue act is very little. What a good start does that it calms the nerves, the batsmen in the dug-out start feeling better, can play their assigned roles to a tee.
For example if Varma is batting at No.7, then his assigned role is to smash the bowlers to all corners of the ground in the last couple of overs of the innings. But if because of a collapse, he come into bat after 10 overs, he will have to play a totally different role, that of an anchor. Switching gears is not that easy.
So, if one of Sharma, Samson and Kishan goes on to play big, India will really fancy their chances. Even quick-fire small innings, say 30 each, would do. The idea is to put the rest of the batsmen at ease and allow them to play as per the role assigned to them.
