India v Zimbabwe: Focus on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but Sanju Samson will be India’s first-choice opener at Asian Games
Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
In isolation, this is a ‘goodwill’ tour — low-profile, a David versus Goliath contest. The BCCI supports smaller cricket boards, and it has been standing by Zimbabwe ever since they became an ICC Full Member in 1992. An India tour guarantees a windfall for the host boards, through TV rights revenue and other commercial partnerships.
The three-match series against Zimbabwe, starting today, however, is a little different. India were flying high after winning the T20 World Cup, but the recent tours of Ireland and England brought them down to earth. They suffered a 2-0 T20I whitewash against Ireland before going down 4-0 in the five-match series against England. The other game was a washout. In conditions that had a bit for the bowlers, India’s batting vulnerabilities were exposed. Shreyas Iyer, who has taken over the T20I captaincy from Suryakumar Yadav, has arrived in Zimbabwe with a 6-0 record in reverse (six losses and a no result). He will be under pressure, as well as the entire team.
The bigger picture is that the three-match series will offer a glimpse to India’s fast-bowling future. But the immediate attention would be on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The teenager went to the UK tour riding on the IPL wave, where he scored in excess of 700 runs at a staggering strike-rate of 237-plus. Over three T20Is in England, he had a rude awakening. On pitches where the ball bounced above waist, Jofra Archer exposed Sooryavanshi’s shortcomings against the short deliveries. He scored in a linear arithmetic progression — 13, 14 and 15. More importantly, in international cricket, away from the IPL featherbeds and short boundaries, Sooryavanshi looked like a fish out of water.
Good that the youngster has shown the maturity to put things in perspective, as he told bcci.tv: “Yes, there have been several ups and downs in the last four months. It’s part of cricket. It will keep happening, but I have to follow the process and give my 100 per cent for the team.”
It is learnt that the decision to play Sooryavanshi in England, on the heels of three successive failures from Sanju Samson, was solely the team management’s call. The selectors didn’t interfere in the composition of the playing XI. Omitting Sanju from the Zimbabwe touring party, however, was a decision taken by the selection committee. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who won the Player of the Tournament award at the T20 World Cup, scored 5, 0 and 1 in his first three innings on the UK tour and was dropped.
Sooryavanshi played the next three matches before making way for Sanju in the final T20I. At the toss in Southampton, Shreyas had dropped a hint that this would be the combination going ahead. According to a source in the know, Sanju will continue to be India’s first-choice opener in the shortest format alongside Abhishek Sharma. The 31-year-old will be back for the Asian Games and in all likelihood, he will walk into the playing XI.
For Sooryavanshi, the Zimbabwe series is an opportunity to get into the international cricket groove. The hosts don’t have an Archer or a Josh Tongue in their bowling ranks. But Blessing Muzarabani has height and he will extract bounce, especially in home conditions.
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