Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Parthiv Patel has picked India’s playing XI for the fourth T20I against England. Patel wants India to bring back Sanju Samson in the final XI and drop Shivam Dube from the team.
Samson was dropped in the second T20I against the hosts after he managed scores of 5, 0 and 1 in his last three T20I innings. Dube, on the other hand, conceded 10 runs in a solitary over he bowled in the previous game against England and could only manage two runs.
Patel said Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan can bat from number three to five, depending on the match situation.
“I feel that the middle order should be Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer, the order can be anyone, depending on the situation of the game, that is something I would like to see. When six of the seven batters are left-handers then it becomes quite difficult, the ground dimensions come into play and the bowlers get used to bowling in the same manner. So, I think that is something India definitely needs to take a look at,” Parthiv Patel said on Star Sports.
“With the resources that we have, Sanju Samson obviously has to come in. I would put Tilak Varma at No.6 purely because he is the vice-captain of the team. I think in this case, Shivam Dube will have to make way. Axar Patel then comes in at No.7, and you have to understand that these are the best seven batters in your team. So, you have to back them. You have five proper bowlers here, and you have to back them to bowl the 20 overs, and then back your seven batters to get you the runs,” he continued.
Parthiv Patel’s playing XI for 4th T20I: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.
On the other hand, head coach Gautam Gambhir admitted they need to bat according to the match situation after they skittled out for 76 runs in the third T20I.
“When everyone in a batting line-up starts playing high-risk, high-reward, sometimes these things can happen. Probably the middle order, the experienced guys who have played enough international cricket, need to adapt and probably play according to the situation as well,” Gautam Gambhir had said during the post-match press conference (via ICC).
The fourth T20I between England and India will be played at Bristol, County Ground on Thursday.
