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The Left That Isn’t Right & Some Options In Sight

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Team India's left-hand opening batsmen situation and options

We all know that having a left-hand and right-hand combination is very important in limited-overs cricket, especially in T20 cricket, where every ball is important. The left-right batting pair is crucial not only to unsettle a bowler’s line and length but also to disturb the bowling combinations. In this article, we will see if the left-hand opener Shikhar Dhawan is right for the T20I set-up, and then we will see some other left-hand opening batsmen options Team India has for the role of a T20I opener.

One in the top-order, four in the middle order

In the T20I series against Bangladesh, the Indian team line-up consisted of 5 left-handers: Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Shivam Dube, and Washington Sundar.

However, apart from Dhawan, no other left-hander was featured in the top 4. Thus from no. 5 to no. 8, we saw a continuous string of four left-handers.

Having all right-handers or all left-handers in a line-up makes it easier for the opponent team’s captain to think and execute strategies. For example, in the 1st T20I in Delhi, where the pitch was slow, Bangladesh captain, Mahmudullah simply deployed part-time off-spinners to tackle India’s middle-order left-handers. As we know, off-spinners who can turn the ball away from the left-hand batsmen on a spinning track, are difficult to get away with.

Batting line-up was the same for the 2nd T20I too. Finally, in the 3rd T20I, Rohit bought in Manish Pandey in place of Krunal Pandya and the left-right balance was back.

Need of Dhawan in the top-order

Like India, other teams too have focused on having such combinations in their line-up especially at the top. Also, India have some very good right-hand batsmen in the top 4 or 5. Shikhar Dhawan, therefore, not only becomes a need but also a strategic option in the otherwise right-hand heavy Indian top order.

Dhawan has been a key member of the ODI team and has time and again played some exceptional knocks, particularly in the ICC tournaments. In the ODIs, he stands tall and has helped India win many important matches.

But what about his performance in the T20I cricket and the T20 World Cups?  Let us see the stats.

Dhawan’s stats in the T20Is and T20 World Cups

[table id=161 /]

The point is clear, as seen from the stats in the above table, he has not been successful as a T20I player.

Now, are the selectors mixing the formats and expecting Dhawan to perform similarly in T20Is? It looks like that.

Team India selectors have many times done the mistake of mixing formats of players, by selecting a player in the ODI format based on his T20I performance and vice versa. Sometimes it has worked but mostly it has failed.

As the above stats table highlight, the difference between Dhawan, the ICC ODI tournament beast and Dhawan, the sleeping beauty in T20 World cups is stark.

He has not been able to provide quickstarts in T20Is, let alone strong and stable starts. To say the least, Dhawan’s T20I multi-tournament performance is not satisfactory by Team India’s standards.

So we can say there are two reasons, selectors are not willing to move past Shikhar Dhawan in T20Is:

1) Mixing up of the formats and the expectations, and

2) Dhawan seems to be the only experienced left-hand opener available for India.

So, what can be done next? Well, if having a left-hand opener is so important for any team, then why are the selectors not trying any other left-hand option? It is high time that India should experiment with at least one more left-hand batsman in the top-order. A top-order which is full of right-hand batsmen such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer.

India being India is not bereft of lefthanders! Yes, we do have some left-hand opening options in sight, but only if we dare to think out of the box.

Okay, so this article now highlights left-hand options that India can leverage as openers:

Left-hand Opening Options for Team India

Rishabh Pant:

Having taken the world by storm through his batting exploits in the 2016 U-19 World Cup as an opener, Pant also had an amazing run as test cricketer in which he scored a couple of hundred in England and Australia.

He has the second-highest strike rate in T20 history with a strike rate of 156 and an average of 33. In 2018, Pant had scored 1209 runs at an average of 41.68 and a whopping strike rate of 172.71 that included 2 centuries and 10 fifties.

Pant has been out of form and low on confidence off-late. And giving him a chance to open will be like giving him the license to go berserk. Who knows that decision might do wonders for him and Team India.

Washington Sundar:

Someone who started his career as an opener, Sundar is not a pass over with the bat. Sundar showed exceptional calmness and game awareness while batting as a floater for Tamil Nadu, in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

If not as a proper opener, he can definitely be used as a consolidator or as an aggressor (like Sunil Narine) at the top of the order to disrupt plans of the opposition.

Ishan Kishan:

The Indian team has been rigid in their T20 setup, else there would have not been a need to look beyond Pant and Sundar for opening options.

And, thanks to this rigidity, we have an out-of-confidence Pant, warming-the-bench Rahul and T20-mismatch Dhawan in the lineup.

Ishan Kishan is an opener who can provide the solution. He is a wicket-keeper and a left-hand opening batsman. If Pant fails to find confidence and if Rahul is able to establish his place in the side. Ishan can be a straight swap for struggling Pant who can open.

Out of the box selections:

The new selection committee will come on board on 3rd December 2019 and hope they will think out of the box.

Considering the depth and the bench strength India have, it is tough to choose someone, just based on the talent or based on one good domestic season.

But then we know the debut stories of young Sachin or Yuvraj. What if they weren’t chosen early in their careers?

All I am saying is, if the need arises, it is good to give the opportunity to someone you think can make a difference. Selectors need to take some intuitive calls even if the data set required to make a decision is small.

Currently, two left-handers have been more than impressive in the domestic circuits and they are Yashaswi Jaiswal and Devdutt Paddikal.

Paddikal had an impressive Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he scored 461 runs at an average of 65 in 10 matches. He has shown the big match temperament and calmness to play alongside Karnataka star-waltz.

Yashaswi, on the other hand, was part of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and Deodhar Trophy before joining the U19 team to play U19 tri-series in Bangladesh. He was the youngest player to score a double century and had a perfect Vijay Hazare Trophy, with an average of 98.

Conclusion

India, has for long, lacked a clear approach and planning towards the shortest format. They have either under-utilized players while being been rigid with their approach or have tried too many players for no clear reason. However, amidst all the shuffling and chip-chopping, it is surprising that Dhawan’s T20 form issues have been ignored for such a long time. If India is to clear Semi-Final hurdle next year, they must find someone who can counter the opposition plans of attacking Kohli and Rohit.

Alright, so that was the quick analysis of the left-hand opening batsmen situation of Team India with some possible options. Let us know if you agree with the left-hand opening batsmen options mentioned above. If you have other names in mind, let us know in the comments section below.

 

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