India vs England 2nd T20I: Sanju or Sooryavanshi — will India stick or twist?
5, 0, 1… Sanju Samson’s scores in his last three T20I innings appear like an area code. As India play England in the second T20I at Old Trafford today, the team management must decide whether to stick or twist.
Morne Morkel, India’s bowling coach, came for the pre-match press conference on Friday and rattled off a stereotype. “I think we just need to also respect the fact that we’ve got the No. 1 batter, or we had our No. 1 batter in T20 cricket, Abhishek Sharma (only recently has Ishan Kishan replaced Abhishek at the top),” he told reporters. “You know, Sanju (Samson) was the player of the T20 World Cup.”
This was sticking to the team management playbook. Ryan ten Doeschate, India’s assistant coach, had followed it in toto when he turned up for the post-match presser at the end of the T20I series in Ireland. Morkel was cut from the same cloth.
He cited Sanju’s World Cup exploits and spoke about backing the players. “Yes, there’s a young man knocking on the door, and it’s exciting, but I reckon for not just those two players at the top, but for the rest of the group, it’s a good sign that we show that we back you guys,” he said. “It’s about putting performances on the board. That is key. But also, if you look at it, we also don’t want to think too much and bat other players out of positions.”
On the face of it, Morkel dropped a big enough hint that the Indian team management wouldn’t be swayed by the outside noise; the clamour for handing Sooryavanshi his senior international debut. But things aren’t always that straightforward. The teenager is the man in form and he is banging down the door. And maybe, time is running out for Sanju.
Shubman Gill was omitted from the T20 World Cup squad on the basis of his form. The vice-captaincy couldn’t shield him from the axe. Suryakumar Yadav lost T20I captaincy despite winning the World Cup because he was believed to be not contributing enough as a batsman. In the cut-throat competition of Indian cricket, “long rope” can have a short shelf life.
Sanju had lost his place in the XI ahead of the World Cup. For the first few matches, until the defeat to South Africa in Ahmedabad, Ishan paired up with Abhishek at the top. Opening with two left-handers made things predictable for the opponents and the decision to bring Sanju back to the playing fold stemmed from breaking the monotony. It augured wonderfully well for India.
Beyond Sanju’s World Cup heroics, this could be another reason why the team management is seemingly hesitant to do away with a left-right opening combination. That said, Sooryavanshi carries enough wow factor to prompt the leadership group to think out of the box.
Another failure for Sanju, and maybe, Gautam Gambhir & Co would unleash the boy wonder. Or who knows, it could be today itself. Team selection doesn’t necessarily need to follow the comments made at the pressers.
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