India vs Sri Lanka: Chance for middle-order batters to impress as Rohit Sharma and Co start favourites in T20Is

It may have just been over three months since their forgettable exit from the T20 World Cup, but Team India look poised to carry forward their winning momentum, come the T20I home series against Sri Lanka, starting in Lucknow on Thursday.

India began a new era under Rohit Sharma following their exit from the showpiece event, while there was also a change in the coaching department, with Rahul Dravid taking over.

As they say, past is past. Which means, there’s no time to ponder on what went wrong in the T20 World Cup back in November, instead, the hosts’ focus should be looking ahead and fine-tuning their plans for another T20 World Cup in eight months’ time, this time Down Under in Australia.

India have played only two T20I bilateral series since then, but have emerged victorious on both occasions. A 3-0 clean sweep over New Zealand in November and most recently, a demolition of West Indies by the same margin. It saw them take the number one spot in T20I rankings.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, come into this series with a lot of work to do following a 4-1 defeat to Australia in a T20I series, and to no one’s surprise, India start as favourites.

However, the Men in Blue will be missing a few key players for this series. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant were released from the bio-bubble ahead of the third T20I against West Indies, while also being rested for the subsequent T20Is against Sri Lanka, keeping workload management in mind.

On Tuesday, the hosts were dealt a fresh setback as Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Chahar were ruled out of the same series due to injuries.

This means that the Indian team management will have a lot of questions lingering in their mind ahead of the series, even so with the T20 World Cup in sight.

Let’s take a look at the puzzles India will have to solve before the series:

Middle-order batting

With Kohli and Pant given an ample amount of rest for the T20Is, there will eventually be two middle-order batting slots to fill in.

There is Shreyas Iyer, who has scored 469 runs from 28 T20Is at an average of 27.58 while batting in the middle-order, and then there is Venkatesh Iyer, who can maybe bat at number five or six with the ability to produce some worthwhile scores.

Injury to Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant being rested means Shreyas will all but find a spot in that middle-order, and he once he settles himself him in the middle, Shreyas can be an unstoppable force to reckon with.

Iyer has so far played 21 of 33 T20Is in the number four/five position, having scored 401 runs from a batting average of 28.64, which is even more higher than his overall batting average of 27.50.

This could be the perfect opportunity to strengthen his case for the T20 World Cup and convert starts into big knocks, something which he has not achieved since 67 against England in Ahmedabad last year.

He may not have played for India since July last year, but Sanju Samson can fill in to the number three spot in Kohli’s absence.

Time and again Samson has proved his worth in the IPL while representing Rajasthan Royals, but big knocks while it comes to playing for India remains a big miss for the Kerala batter.

In T20s though, Samson has scored 15 centuries and three centuries while batting at number three with a strike rate of 138.6, and his aggressive approach in the early stages of his innings makes him a potential number three candidate for India.

Rohit was all praise for Samson on the eve of the first T20I, saying he has got the skill-set to succeed.

"Speaking of Samson, I think you know that guy has got talent man. Whenever we have seen him bat in IPL and all of that, he has just produced an innings where everyone goes over the moon watching that inning.”

"He has got the skill-set to succeed. Now that is the whole point about this sport, a lot of people have skill-set, have talent, but it is how you utilise them is the most critical part and I think, it is up to Sanju to understand how he want to utilise the talent and how he can maximise it,” Rohit said.

With the likes of Pant absent for this series, Samson not only will be a part of the squad as an aggressive batter, but also a back-up wicketkeeper, but it will be interesting to see where and how he fits into the playing XI.

Uncertainty continues to surround over Hardik Pandya, but India seem to have found a potential ‘finisher’ in Venkatesh Iyer. Iyer played sublime match-winning knocks of 24*, 33 and 35* against West Indies in the recent T20I series and so far, in just six matches, he boasts of a strike rate of 164.10.

Iyer can also cope well with the ball as he has shown, taking three wickets from six matches at an economy rate of 6.32, so it is of no doubt that he adds depth in the lineup along with Ravindra Jadeja.

In the final T20I against West Indies, skipper Rohit Sharma sacrificed his opening slot to pave way for Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan to open. Rohit eventually scored just seven runs batting at number four while Kishan played a cautious 31-ball knock of 34.

But, in all likelihood, Rohit could revert back to his opening slot on Thursday, with Ruturaj Gaikwad as his opening partner.

“It was just for that match. I wanted to give them a longer run. We can’t think of World Cup as it is still far away. We do things depending on what we require in the present,” Rohit said at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

Bowling combinations

India boast of a pace bowling attack that has depth in it. Jasprit Bumrah returns to the side, last having played against South Africa in January 2022, so he’s surely going to trouble the opposition batters come the series.

Then there are options in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Siraj, Harshal Patel and India’s latest recruit Avesh Khan.

Deepak Chahar has been in good form but an injury means that he would have to miss the T20Is against the Lankans.

India went in with four pacers in the final T20I against West Indies, and the team management is surely to have some selection headache regarding the pacers.

To start off with, Jasprit Bumrah in the playing XI is a no-brainer. He’s back from his break and will be rearing to go and rattle the opposition.

Harshal Patel, meanwhile, has proved himself as a deadly death-bowler, so it will be hard for India to look past him, also given his weapon of slower balls he possesses.

In just five games, Harshal has picked up nine wickets and will be looking to add to his tally.

Avesh Khan made his T20I debut against the Windies, but went for 42 runs without taking a wicket. India might go ahead with the experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the third bowling option, given the impeccable swing bowling he possesses.

Ravi Bishnoi was impeccable with his googlies in his debut international series, taking three wickets from three games. He went wicketless in the third T20I against West Indies, but will be eager to make a statement against Sri Lanka with the World Cup just eight months away.

Yuzvendra Chahal seems to be India’s second spinners option, ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, who’s yet to play a T20I since returning to the side.

But game time will be crucial for Kuldeep Yadav, but it remains to be seen how and where he will fit into the playing XI,

Sri Lanka, meanwhile look depleted after missing Wanindu Hasaranga, who tested positive for COVID-19 while in Australia. He’s likely to miss all the T20Is against India and will be a big blow for the visitors, given the wicket-taking skills he posseses.

Dushmanta Chameera and Lahiru Kumara will spearhead the pace attack, but Sri Lanka will be tempted to bring in the likes of Jeffrey Vandersay and Praveen Jayarawickrama to deal with the slower pitches.

All in all, this series promises to be an enticing affair with lots of twists and turns, and with T20 World Cup edging closer day-by-day, the competition for respective slots will be even more fierce.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan.

Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (C), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka (VC), Dinesh Chandimal, Danushka Gunathilaka, Kamil Mishara, Janith Liyanage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay, Praveen Jayawickrama, Ashian Daniel (subject to ministerial approval)

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