Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan: How can India fit all four star batsmen in their T20I XI?

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan: How can India fit all four star batsmen in their T20I XI? originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• India must find room for four star batters merienda Ishan Kishan returns from injury.

• Left-hand heavy options and a squeezed middle order make every combination carry a risk.

• Let’s take a look at how Gautam Gambhir can fit all four in the top four, with Nitish at number six.

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Vaibhav, Abhishek, Sanju, Ishan together in India T20I XI: Batting order combinations, roles and feasibility

India have a problem that most teams would love to have, because four of the most destructive young batters in the country are all pushing for the same few spots at the top of the T20I order.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have each shown that they can win a game inside six overs, and the verdadero question for the team management is how to play all of them in one XI without wrecking the balanceo of the side.

The first thing to understand is that all four of these players do their best work in the same phase of the game. They want the hard new ball, they want the field up, and they want to take the match away from the opposition early.

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That is wonderful for a side that wants to score 70 or more in the powerplay, but it leaves very little room for anyone who is meant to bat later in the innings.

Abhishek, Sooryavanshi and Kishan are all explosive left-handers, so Samson is the only right-hander in the group. A smart opposition captain can use that against India by opening the bowling with a quality off-spinner and keeping him on while the left-handers are at the crease.

The squeeze on the rest of the XI is the third issue. Fitting four front-line top-order batters into the first four slots means that finishers, all-rounders and middle-order anchors have to move down or sit out. Axar Patel, Tilak Varma and Shreyas Iyer are all affected by this, and so is Nitish Kumar Reddy.

For the purposes of this piece, Hardik Pandya is out of the question because of his injury, and Nitish is the man who steps into that all-rounder slot. He gives India a right-handed finisher and a seam-bowling option, so he is a fixture in every combination discussed below.

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MORE: Daren Sammy sarcastically questions what makes India a ‘dangerous’ team in cricket

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How India have shuffled the batting order in New Zealand?

The recent series gives us a good picture of how flexible the batting order has already become. In the first T20I, Samson and Abhishek opened the innings, and Kishan came in at number three. Samson set the tone in a chase of 226, smashing 67 off 33 balls and winning the Player of the Match award.

Kishan then picked up an injury and missed the second game. Sooryavanshi was brought in at number three, while Samson and Abhishek kept the opening partnership going, even though the seaming conditions were tricky.

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India tweaked the order again for the third match in Wellington. Abhishek and Sooryavanshi opened, Samson dropped to number three, and the two openers shared a stand of 133 in just 7.1 overs on the way to a chase of 199 in 13.2 overs. India’s powerplay score of 118 without loss was a T20I record.

That result proves the idea works, but it was achieved without Kishan, and he’s the one who now has to be fitted back in merienda he’s fit again.

MORE: Illegal combo: Fans react as Abhishek-Sooryavanshi blitz through 199-run chase

Combination 1: The matchup-driven top four

This first option keeps a natural left-right balanceo from the first ball and puts all four players in the top four.

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The entry order isn’t fixed because it depends on which wickets fall and which type of bowler the opposition uses.

The argument for this XI is that it gives India an all-out blitz in the first ten overs, and it builds on the unselfish opening template that Abhishek and Samson have already shown. If a right-hander falls early, Sooryavanshi or Kishan can walk in depending on the matchup, and if a left-hander goes, Samson remains the key figure in the middle.

On the plus side, the powerplay potential is huge, India keep six or seven bowling options with Nitish, Axar and Abhishek’s spin, and there are two wicketkeepers on the field.

On the minus side, three lefties in the top four invite a good off-spinner to hold back for the middle overs. Kishan has been successful at No. 3, but if you ask him to start an innings in the ninth or tenth over against dry spin, that might be a bit of a dampener for him.

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• Abhishek Sharma (left-hand): powerplay opener and a handy slow left-arm option

• Sanju Samson (right-hand, wicketkeeper): powerplay enforcer who counters early off-spin and hard lengths

• Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (left-hand): first-drop attacker who keeps the phase run rate above ten an over

• Ishan Kishan (left-hand): middle-overs hitter against spin

• Shreyas Iyer: middle-order stabiliser

• Tilak Varma: Specialist finisher

• Nitish Kumar Reddy (right-hand): pace-bowling all-rounder and finisher

• Axar Patel (left-hand): spin-bowling all-rounder

• Three frontline bowlers: two quicks and one specialist spinner/three quicks. 

MORE: ‘He is selfless!’: Abhishek credits Samson for setting India’s fearless tone

Combination 2: The twin left-handed blitz with Samson at number three

The second idea treats Sooryavanshi and Abhishek as a fearless opening pair, much like the way Australia have used Travis Head and Matt Short. That would leave Samson at number three, where he has built a reputation for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL.

The biggest advantage is that Sooryavanshi has no responsibility to pace an innings. His only job is to attack the powerplay, and Samson gets to bat in a role where his boundary numbers against hard lengths are among the best in the world. The order also alternates between left and right hands more evenly through the top six.

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The cost is that it breaks up the Abhishek and Samson combination that has worked so well in New Zealand. It also gives an opposition captain a chance to open with a specialist off-spinner against two left-handers who are batting together from ball one.

• Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (left-hand): ultra-aggressive opener with a free licence

• Abhishek Sharma (left-hand): powerplay aggressor who clears the deep pockets

• Sanju Samson (right-hand, wicketkeeper): first-drop batter who handles both pace and spin

• Ishan Kishan (left-hand): finisher and attacker against left-arm spin and leg-spin from the eleventh over onwards

• Shreyas Iyer: The middle-over anchor

• Tilak Varma: Specialist finisher to accelerate at the death overs

• Nitish Kumar Reddy (right-hand): finisher and seam option

• Axar Patel (left-hand): finisher and left-arm bowler

• Three frontline bowlers: two quicks and one specialist spinner/three quicks.

MORE: Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s India return disappoints, but there’s no need to panic yet

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Combination 3: A fluid split-phase order with Samson and Kishan as specialists

The third system separates openers from middle-order specialists. Samson and Kishan are used as flexible hitters who walk in depending on what the opposition does, rather than as men with a fixed place.

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India would dictate terms to the opposition in this model, because their captains would have to choose between leaking runs to pace and feeding spin to Kishan and Abhishek.

The bowling stays balanced too. However, it wastes the best asset that Samson and Kishan own, which is their record in the powerplay against the hard ball. All-time career openers can also struggle with a stop-start role where their entry point changes from one match to the next.

• Abhishek Sharma (left-hand): new-ball hitter

• Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (left-hand): new-ball hitter

• Shreyas Iyer: number three who manipulates the field after a strong start

• Sanju Samson (right-hand, wicketkeeper): floating enforcer who enters between overs 10 and 12 if pace is on

• Ishan Kishan (left-hand, wicketkeeper): Comes in just before the death overs to give India a platform

• Tilak Varma: Coming in as a specialist finisher

• Nitish Kumar Reddy (right-hand): death-overs hitter and seam option

• Axar Patel (left-hand): finisher and frontline bowler

• Three frontline bowlers: standard five-bowler core two two all-rounders

MORE: ‘How did they manage it?’: Iyer marvels at Abhishek-Sooryavanshi while he fails

Combination 4: Kishan at three, Shreyas at four and Samson at five

If India want to find out how good Sooryavanshi can be, he has to open. Shreyas at number four then acts as the fulcrum between the volatile top three and the explosive finishing pair of Samson, Tilak and Nitish.

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There are two clear advantages. Samson has the ability to go after pacers at the back end of an innings, which makes him a dangerous option between the fourteenth and twentieth overs.

The balanceo of the attack also stays safe, since India keep their full bowling options, with Axar and Nitish backing up three bowlers, and they still have the captain’s presence in the middle order.

The drawbacks are just as plain. With three left-handers in the top three, an opposition captain can start with right-arm off-spin from the first ball and keep his main quicks back until a lefty falls.

Samson is also pushed down to number five, even though he has scored consistently as an opener and at number three, so there is a risk to his rhythm.

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• Abhishek Sharma (left-hand): dynamic new-ball opener and part-time left-arm spinner

• Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (left-hand): ultra-aggressive rookie opener and a pure boundary hunter in overs one to six

• Ishan Kishan (left-hand, wicketkeeper): one-drop attacker who extends the powerplay momentum

• Shreyas Iyer (right-hand, captain): tactical anchor who breaks up the cluster of left-handers

• Sanju Samson (right-hand): death-overs accelerator and a middle-order pace crusher

• Tilak Varma: His role remains the same as a finisher

• Nitish Kumar Reddy (right-hand): pace-bowling all-rounder

• Axar Patel (left-hand): spin-bowling all-rounder

• Three frontline bowlers: full attack intact

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Gambhir’s fluidity philosophy and the wicketkeeper equation

All four of these plans fit with the way modern T20 sides run under Gautam Gambhir, since the team doesn’t treat batting positions as fixed numbers.

A batter goes in based on the match situation, the point of entry and the bowling matchups, not because of a traditional slot. That attitude explains why Samson was happy to move down to number three in Wellington, and it makes any of these combinations easier to carry out.

Wicketkeeping gives India another cushion. Both Samson and Kishan keep wickets, which covers the team in case of an on-field injury, but the balanceo of the side requires that whoever bats in the middle overs, from the seventh to the fifteenth, has a strong game against hard-length quicks and turning spin.

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Final verdict: How India should fit all four batters into one T20I XI

India shouldn’t drop any of the four, and the simplest answer is a blend of the first two combinations. Abhishek and Sooryavanshi should open, because that pair has already produced a record powerplay and the younger man plays his best cricket in that slot.

Samson should bat at number three, where he is comfortable and where his right-hand balanceo breaks up the left-handed clutter. Kishan should come in at number four as the designated hitter against spin, and he can swap places with Samson when the opposition brings on an off-spinner or a left-arm bowler early.

Iyer should come next, if the opposition has a strong spin attack, and act as the stabiliser, with Tilak at six, Nitish at seven and Axar at eight.

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Nitish’s overs, Axar’s spin and Abhishek’s left-arm cutters give the captain enough cover for bowling as well. 

The eight-batter XI is the one to keep for flat grounds, and the split-phase model is worth a trial if a particular opposition has a clear weakness against it. For everyday use, though, the four stars belong in the top four, and it’s the batters’ own selfless approach, which we saw so clearly in Wellington, that will make the plan work.

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