The all-rounder could only gather 21 runs off as many deliveries in the 2nd T20I.
“We have seen Axar Patel bat well in the longer format and thought he can do the same today. He did bat well, but we’ll see what we can do different“, said the Indian skipper at the post-match presentation.
The concept of not having their middle-order fixated seems to have come back to bite the Men in Blue. It was not long ago, that the Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav mentioned in the press conference that the openers would be the only batters who are fixed in terms of their position. Cut to the second T20I, Axar Patel walks out to bat at No.3, in a chase of 214. That too, after losing Shubman Gill in the first over.
It would be difficult to make sense of what is going on in the Indian dugout at the moment. With the world cup on the horizon, not having the batting line up fixed would be a huge cause of concern. But for the Men in Blue, it seems as if it is the way they have chosen to play the game. Former cricketers Robin Uthappa and Dale Steyn raised questions over Axar Patel’s promotion to No.3 in the second T20I.
Uthappa stressed on having the best batter in the team at No.3. The hosts were chasing a huge total oof 214 in 20 overs, and a team would need to send their best batter in at No.3, which in this case should have been Tilak Varma. Former Protea speedster Dale Steyn also questioned the call, asking about Axar Patel’s role in the situation.
“Solid batters need to come at No.3. If you are sending out a pinch hitter, then he has to play like a pinch hitter. If Axar came out as a pinch hitter, he shouldn’t be scoring 21 off 21. He should have got out trying. That is a mindset, even that I don’t agree with. When chasing a big total, you need a solid batter at No.3”, orated Uthappa.
“It wasn’t even a left-right combination thing. It was the right hander that got out first. It is some weird experimenting there. Get your best batters in there and just go about chasing”, voiced Steyn after the match.
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Because batting him at three simply disjoints the balance of the side. It seems as if the Indians are on an experimentation spree, in which they are trying out various combinations in order to extend the batting line up. Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate attended the press conference after the game and clarified what the hosts wanted out of Axar’s promotion.
“We have got 8-9 games before the WC. We have found ourselves 30/3 recently a lot more than we’d have liked. So it’s about exploration on how we can extend the batting”, said the assistant coach.
There’s a reason why the best batter in the team must come out at No.3. It is a position that holds extreme importance and must be occupied by someone who has the largest chance to take the team home. In this case, it could have been Tilak Varma or Suryakumar Yadav himself. Trying to deepen the batting by sending out Axar Patel did not help the cause of the team.
What the Indians need to do is have a set batting line-up, so that the players have some clarity when they walk into the dressing room before a game. Players must know what their roles are before the coin goes up. In India’s case, apart from the openers, it seems as if no one has an idea about where they would bat. With a world cup in two months time, this would not be an ideal build-up to the tournament.
To go deeper into that, Tilak Varma walked in at No.5 and ended up scoring 62 off just 34 deliveries. Had he come in earlier, the left-handed batter could have got a bit more time to settle his nerves and then launch for the total. Similarly, Suryakumar Yadav, who isn’t in the best of forms could have given himself a bit of time to get his eye in. These are the players who have the capability to take India home in such a run-chase. And they must bat higher in order to give the team the best shot!
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