Former Indian cricketer Sadagoppan Ramesh has been critical of the Indian side after Harshit Rana has been promoted up the order in the number that Shivam Dube would have come in 2nd India vs Australia T20I. India were reduced to 49/5 after eight overs when Rana walked into the middle. Although Rana did produce a valuable innings of 35 from 33 balls, Dube, coming at eight, could not contribute much.
“Someone who cooks well can’t be made a driver, and a good driver can’t become the cook. Likewise, the management should focus on each player’s strength and main role in the team and aim to get the best out of them in that role. If they do something extra, that’s well and good,” said Ramesh on his Instagram handle.
“But their secondary skill should not become the primary role, and I fear that’s happening in this Indian team. A bowler who can bat needs to deliver with the ball first, and likewise, a batter who can bat must deliver with the ball first. The management needs to be clear on this. That’s where India are slipping right now,” he added.
In addition to this change, there were a few other changes in batting order on Friday. After Shubman Gill fell early, Sanju Samson, who has been batting in the middle order, has been promoted to three. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma have been pushed down a number as a result. India, in the end, was only able to manage 125 runs, which Australia chased in the second innings quite comfortably.
“India needs to stop playing musical chairs with their batting order. They would have had a great chance of winning if they had scored 160 to 170. Didn’t Suryakumar Yadav play well at No. 3 in the last match? He was not out as well. Then why send Sanju Samson at No. 3?” said Ramesh.
“He went from opening to No. 5 and now from 5 to 3. Because of this, everyone is looking at each other in confusion on who might go into bat next. Tilak Varma won India the Asia Cup final at No. 4, and you moved him to No. 5.”
