India vs Sri Lanka: Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson are charting different paths to the T20 World Cup
India vs Sri Lanka: Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson are charting different paths to the T20 World Cup
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Saturday evening, and as the weather cleared in Dharamsala for the second T20, Rohit Sharma wanted to have a bowl. “We just want to have a score in front of us,” he said at the toss.
You see India is in proper experimentation mode. Ever since Rohit has assumed leadership, this is more than just a word. There are pointed selections, pre-defined roles and movement up-down the batting line-up, all in preparation for the 2022 T20 World Cup. So far, we have seen Venkatesh Iyer mark the number six spot as his own, Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant running the middle order, and Ishan Kishan coming up with the goods at the top.
As far as batting is concerned, India’s first-choice line-up is more or less ready. But when you are facing a tournament like the T20 World Cup, that too in Australian conditions, you need a secondary approach as well. This is where experimentation becomes the watchword. And this is precisely where India is at the moment, with the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson enjoying opportunities while Pant and Virat Kohli are off resting.
In that light, it was a good thing that Sri Lanka got to 180-odd despite their slow start. Yes, India will have to rethink their bowling combination at some stage, but that’s a discussion for later. For this is about batting experimentation, especially on a day when India was chasing a tall order, and fortunately (in the name of experimentation), their in-form openers were dismissed for only a few.
It then brings us to those two names again – Shreyas Iyer and Sanju Samson. 84 off 47 balls on the night, wherein the first 50 runs came off 37 deliveries. The duo smashed 34 runs off 10 balls in the second half of their partnership – the importance of which was seen in how India won with 17 balls to spare. Sri Lanka had gone ballistic in the last four overs, taking 72 runs, and India needed to match that at some point. Combined with Ravindra Jadeja’s histrionics, 45* off 18 balls, the finish line came early and pretty easily.
Jadeja has a confirmed ticket to Australia. He is a star all-rounder, a gun fielder and off late, his T20 batting is blossoming into a really aggressive mould. With Chennai Super Kings dropping Suresh Raina from their plans altogether, Jadeja can be expected to take up that middle-order role in the 2022 IPL season. Perhaps the greatest concern over Jadeja’s inclusion in the playing eleven is regarding his bowling. On some days, he can be really flat. Again though, as part of a wholesome conversation on India’s T20 bowling plans, that’s a conversation for later.
As concerns travel plans, Shreyas is only a step or so behind Jadeja. If the T20 World Cup selections were held today, he is a confirmed member of the squad. Unlike Jadeja though, his selection in the first-choice playing eleven is not nearly guaranteed.
Shreyas is on a collision course with two other batsmen and vying for two spots. Along with Pant and SKY, there is increased competition for two spots in the middle. The problem herein is the different skillsets this trio possesses. Pant and SKY have a multitude of roles they can play. For example, Pant is your first-choice keeper. He is also an attacking batsman who can anchor the middle order.
Similarly, SKY brings a definitive gully-cricket approach to batting, which is interchangeable depending on what position he bats at. Most of all, along with Venkatesh Iyer, he is being primed for the finisher’s role at number five. The batting positions of Pant and SKY are interchangeable too, as seen on multiple instances. Shreyas, though, loses out herein, for batting lower down the order simply doesn’t suit his style.
It was seen in Rohit’s first series against New Zealand. Shreyas batted at number five in two games, and he didn’t get a chance to make an impact. Since then, the template has undergone a chance, with Shreyas either batting at number three, or not batting at all. And thus, herein lies the conundrum for him.
Apart from injury, there is no other force that can move Kohli from number three for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and rightly so. Shreyas’ game is largely a mirror of what Kohli does, and is an apt understudy for the number three role. If you consider both the T20s against Sri Lanka, he has copied the Kohli-playbook for scoring in T20s – start slow, progress on a canter, run lots of singles and doubles, and then tee off when the opponent least expects it. Perhaps, and this is only for argument sake, Shreyas is a tad more attacking than Kohli, which might be on account of comparatively youthful aggression.
The underlying point being Shreyas is an IPL captain, and yet he might very well have to wait for his chance to make a mark at the T20 World Cup. It highlights the riches of Indian cricket at present, yes, but additionally also hints that perhaps the team management is on the right path to solving India’s white-ball batting crisis. Moving on then, it is also a similar tale for another IPL captain – Samson.
Watch him play for Rajasthan Royals, and you will always be in awe. Apart from Jos Buttler, no one in that camp holds a candle to him. He is their definitive mainstay and now captain, inarguably, as the franchise has invested in him even further. If you didn’t know better, watching Samson tearing up in the IPL season after season, you would think he is an international cricketer of greater repute.
Why is the reality so different? For one, Samson has his annual highs and then lows as well. Inadvertently through an IPL season, his form does taper off at some point. Even so, he does enough to stay in contention and when there is a chance to experiment, or an injury lay-off to first-choice keeper-batsmen, there comes a call-up. But those phone calls are becoming fewer and fewer in between, given the consistency of his colleagues/competitors.
Samson is guilty of not taking his chances. Consider the Australian tour in 2020, or the Sri Lankan tour in 2021. He had a good outing in the limited-overs leg, but he simply didn’t do enough after getting the starts, whether playing with senior batsmen Down Under or youngster making their case in Lanka. He is a naturally attacking batsman, so taking the aerial route comes easily to him. But at some point, you need to latch it down and play for your spot, if not the team’s vision.
On Saturday, he was looking to do so and then came a stupendous one-handed catch at slip. That’s cricket for you, and why you need to take your opportunities when they present themselves. Samson, by right, should be an undoubted selection for that T20 World Cup. The fact that the team management holds him in high regard, and wants to give him a fair chance, says a lot.
And yet, it’s also the truth that he is definitely third-choice to both Pant and Kishan as far as keeper-batsman go. Can he make the cut as a pure batsman then? Tough to say, but what can be assuredly said is that the next three-four months are going to define his international aspirations. Samson is one poor IPL season away from oblivion, and for his sake, let us hope it is not the 2022 season.
