Former Indian batter WV Raman believes experienced Sanju Samson should have batted at one down in the second T20I against New Zealand. Samson and Abhishek Sharma had opened the innings and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had batted at one drop in the second game after Ishan Kishan was ruled out with injury.
Sooryavanshi had struggled to get going as he managed only four runs off eight balls while batting out of his preferred opening position. However, the youngster was promoted as an opener in the third game and he smashed a blistering knock of 45 runs off just 19 balls. He also added 133 runs off 43 balls with Abhishek Sharma for the opening alliance.
Sooryavanshi then didn’t play the last two games of the series as Ishan Kishan made a comeback to the playing XI.
Raman told Hindustan Times, “If there is a situation where some adaptation is needed, then the more experienced cricketer must be made to adapt to a new position. By that, I mean, Sanju Samson should have batted at No.3 straight away in the second T20I itself. If you are an experienced cricketer, you must definitely be ready and willing to do what the team needs. We have seen the likes of Rahul Dravid do it. We have seen the likes of KL Rahul do it.”
“If you have been around for a while, and if you have gained enough experience, I think you must put your hand up and say, ‘yes, I will do whatever the team wants me to do’, rather than a youngster being shuttled up and down the order.”
India took an impregnable lead of 3-0 in the series after winning the first three games but surprisingly didn’t back Sooryavanshi in the last two games. However, the visitors lost the last two games as the Kiwis bounced back strongly.
