In the crucial T20 World Cup Super Eights encounter against Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday, India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak supported out-of-form opener Abhishek Sharma to recover his rhythm but did not rule out a tactical rejigging of the top order, including fielding Sanju Samson.
Abhishek, who entered the ICC showcase in explosive form, has struggled thus far, managing just 15 runs at an average of 3.75 and a strike-rate of 75 from four games.
Although the left-hander had to miss the group match against Namibia due to a stomach ailment, Kotak had no doubts about his ability.
“Abhishek’s health was a little bad, and after that, there wasn’t that much momentum. But in the last game (vs SA), he looked good, and over-thinking about one individual, personally, I never liked that,” PTI quoted Kotak as saying during the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“If we focus so much on one person, then obviously, that person also will be under pressure. When he was scoring 80, 70, 90 in 30 balls or 100 in 40, 50 balls, that time nobody was discussing. Our job is to keep him in a good frame of mind. Once he starts hitting the ball again, you’ll see the same Abhishek again. Now, in T20s, nobody can give a guarantee that he will do it in the next match. So, I think it’s not far (Abhishek getting a big score),” he added.
However, Abhishek has clearly struggled against off-spinners in this event. Even a rookie like Aryan Dutt of the Netherlands dismissed him.
Kotak acknowledged that team management is considering the idea of Sanju Samson playing against Zimbabwe, but he made no commitments on the specifics of the changes.
“There can be changes, yes, because two left-handers are opening, number three is left-handed, and opposition is bowling spin. I personally don’t think there is any problem in that but because we lost the last game (against South Africa), we lost a wicket in the first over…obviously, any team would think,” he said.
“We’ll see how it goes because we never decide the team too early. And obviously, it’s not fair to start telling your planning in advance. But there will be thoughts,” he added.
Additionally, the Saurashtra veteran declined to interpret Samson’s batting ahead of Abhishek at the Chepauk nets too strongly.
“So, one thing that is normal in every net, Abhishek doesn’t bat to start with. Okay, he always bats in a second and a third pair (of batters). So, that’s one thing. Sanju would normally always bat up if we have that space because Abhishek doesn’t bat first up. And Sanju is the third opener and a wicketkeeper. So, he bats anywhere. Sometimes he wants to do some drills and he goes behind and does things. So, that’s not an indication (of Samson’s inclusion). Yes, definitely there will be thought about playing him. But nets don’t give any indication,” he added.
The other issue facing the Indian squad is Tilak Varma’s poor strike rate of 118, which cost them the momentum that Ishan Kishan provided. Kotak, meanwhile, saw nothing wrong with Tilak’s strategy.
“There are no issues with Tilak because in the Pakistan game, our target (while batting first) was 175, and on that wicket that was good enough. Ishan gave a good start. The ball was spinning there (in Colombo). So, any team wouldn’t want to go 3-4 wickets at a time,” he said.
“So for Tilak also it is a matter of two boundaries. Sometimes a batsman doesn’t get those balls. If he is at 34-35 in the 30th or 32nd ball, or at 28 in the 26th ball, if he gets one boundary, two boundaries and a six, then he will get a move on. So, I don’t think there is a question of defending the ball. Neither does he have any such instruction nor does he think so himself. So, there is no tension over Tilak or Abhishek,” he added.
