On flatter and fresher decks of the subcontinent, Suryakumar Yadav and his batting brigade reeled out double-hundred totals without much ado. But on far more testing surfaces, they have shown the flexibility to moderate their game and adapt to the situations, which, though, is sometimes misconstrued as a struggle.
But Surya debunks the notions of a struggling top-order. “You have expectations, we also have expectations from ourselves. Expectation is to make 220, 240, 250. But wickets are a little different here. The four wickets we have played on so far were a little different and challenging,” he said. On a more batting-friendlier surface, the audience could watch a more free-flowing approach, he hinted: “I never thought that this team would make 250, 270, 220, 230. But the way we’re playing cricket now, you’ll see in the future,” he said.
Adaptability test
The lethargic nature of the pitches, combined with the run-less campaign of Abhishek Sharma, has meant that Tilak Varma, and at times, Surya, had to shackle their strokes and accumulate, rather than go full throttle. But whereas he has managed to switch through the gears, Tilak has been unable to tee off after starts. It’s the brief to Tilak, Surya clarified: “I have told him, the team management has told him that he has to bat that way. If one wicket is down, then he definitely can go and have his own game in the powerplay. But as soon as two wickets are down, then he has to take a little bit of a backseat, get a partnership again, get to the 10th over and then we have enough firepower to continue and take on the bowling,” he said.
“I don’t have any concern regarding him. He has been delivering for India at No. 3 really well, and I am very confident that he will do it better,” he added.
He dwelled on the thinking behind the approach. “If the number 3 or 4 player gets out early, all the pressure comes down to the lower order, whose job is actually to give firepower to the team and finish the game. So if you get someone else to do something else, it will be a little up and down. So thinking that, we sometimes take a backseat and try to play a little longer.”
Abhishek’s woes
He also stated in clear terms that the team is not entertaining plans to tweak the batting order and, maybe, draft in Sanju Samson to break the left-hand heaviness. “You mean I should play him in Abhishek’s place?” he shot back. At No 3, maybe? “You mean, I should make him play for Tilak? It’s going well in power play. We’re making 50 – 40 runs. That’s normal cricket,” he said.
Much of India’s batting fragility originates from Abhishek Sharma’s form. But the instruction to him, he says, is to keep his identity. “When he scores a run, you have seen what happens. It happens, it’s a team sport, it keeps going on. Now the team has a requirement that the boy should play with his identity. So he is trying to play. If it happens, then it’s fine; if it doesn’t, then we are there to cover,” he said.
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The supreme bowling cartel means that India could defend most scores in excess of 150. Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy have been in searing form. Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh have been putting on effective shifts too. “I take a lot of pride in my bowling unit. I know that on a given day, if we ever made 170, 175, or 180, then we have so much good bowling that it can win that game,” he stated.
When pointed out that South Africa’s captain and part-time off-spinner was spotted bowling at rough on a practice wicket, he quipped: “I have not seen a rough in the first over of a T20 game. Whether they put an off-spinner or left-arm spinner, we have played so much cricket, whether a left-hander or right-hander. Our lefties have played with new balls so many times. So, everyone has their own game plan of how to play and who to play,” he pointed out.
