Less than two months to go for the T20 World Cup and the Indian team management has to deal with an unpleasant issue — the form of captain Suryakumar Yadav and vice-captain Shubman Gill.
While Gill was dismissed for a first-ball duck in Mullanpur on Thursday, Surya, who dropped to No. 4 in the match, managed just 5 from four balls.
Surya has scored only 227 runs in 20 innings at an average of 13.35 and a strike-rate
of 120.10 during the last year. He hasn’t scored a fifty and, more importantly, only two of his innings have lasted more than 20 balls.
Gill, who played his first T20I in more than a year during the Asia Cup in September, has a highest of 47 off 28 balls against Pakistan. He has an average of 23.90 in 14 matches at a strike-rate of 142.93.
Their failures have increased the pressure on the middle order since it’s not possible for Abhishek Sharma to be at his explosive best in every match. The pressure is sure to build on them in the remaining seven matches before the selectors name the chosen XV.
Assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, however, has thrown his full support behind Gill and Surya, insisting there is “absolute faith” in them within the camp. “I saw some good signs of a change of mentality (from Gill) on the backend of that Australian tour,” Ten Doeschate said. “We also know the class. If you look at his IPL record, where he stacks up 700 runs, 600 runs, 800 runs, 600 runs... We believe in his class and we believe he will come good.”
“It’s exactly the same with Surya… I think you back quality players and quality leaders like that and they will come good,” he said. “I can understand from the outside it looks like a concern, but I have got absolute faith in both of them coming good at the right time for us,” the assistant coach said after Thursday’s loss.
Did Surya miss a trick by not batting at No. 3 when Gill was dismissed early?
How will India deal with such a crisis before such an important tournament?
These questions will surely be bothering the think-tank. Dropping Surya and executing a change in captaincy will not be the solution at such short notice.
Such a poor run can happen to any batter in high-risk cricket which T20s are.
Surya had been in this position before in the IPL and had managed to come out of it with flying colours. However, the pressure of handling failure in international cricket is vastly different from franchise cricket.
There is no doubt that a string of low scores could impact Surya’s captaincy. He needs the right batting position and better shot selection and has the experience to come out of such a situation.
“Gill will say he got a very good ball and looked stuck at the crease. For captain Suryakumar Yadav, I felt he needs to focus on his offside play. He was completely out of position when he got out.
“About Gill’s dismissal, the ball from Lungi Ngidi was top quality. The angle he bowled from was excellent. But if Gill was in form, he would have played that ball easily. He is not in form,” former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan said on JioHotstar.
“The runs not coming from Gill’s bat is a bad sign and increases the pressure on him and the team management. They will be asking what to do. This situation should not get worse. If the runs still don’t come, you can’t just bring Sanju Samson back and expect him to perform if he is also rusty.”
The circumstances are different for Gill. He was brought back into the T20 fold with an aim to make him an all-format captain. With Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson waiting in the wings, the pressure on Gill will increase. He doesn’t have much time on his hands before the World Cup.
“I think myself, (and) Shubman, we could have given a good start,” Surya admitted. “Me, Shubman and a few other batters, we should have taken (the responsibility).”
The coming matches will perhaps decide India’s opening combination for the showpiece event in February-March.
