Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh reckons Vaibhav Sooryavanshi would have panicked when he was told to bat at No. 3 in the second T20I against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on Saturday.
Sooryavanshi was added to India’s playing XI after Ishan Kishan was ruled out with a groin niggle. However, Sooryavanshi struggled to get going while batting at one drop. The youngster could only manage four runs off eight balls and was also dropped once.
Ramesh said Sooryavanshi should have opened the innings for India in the second T20I.
He said on his Instagram handle, “He should have opened. As a youngster, as soon as the management told him that he would bat at No.3, he would have panicked. He played only because Ishan Kishan was injured. Though it wasn’t wrong of the management not to break the opening combination, Suryavanshi doesn’t have the experience at No.3. His strength is batting at 0/0 with the anticipation of whether he’s going to hit a six or four off his first delivery.”
“His batting style has been one where he smashes it in the powerplay and then continues with that momentum in the middle overs. When he is already young and is new to the pressure of international cricket, it would have been ideal to play him at a position he’s comfortable at.”
Sooryavanshi joined forces with Abhishek Sharma in the fifth over after Sanju Samson was dismissed.
The former flamboyant batter, Ramesh, added that Sooryavanshi is known to set up the game.
“Batters like him are best when they are asked to create the situation at 0/0. But when he is sent out to bat at No.3, he’s asked to react to a situation. He needn’t have reacted, but unfortunately he reacted to it under pressure, and that’s why he got out. Samson has the experience of batting at No.3 in a one-off match. But once Suryavanshi was tasked with that, it was clear that he came to the crease tense,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
The third T20I between India and New Zealand will be played at Hnry Stadium, Wellington on Tuesday.
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