T20Is in West Indies, US: Indian IPL stars' batting failures worrying

After the disappointing meltdowns in the first two Twenty20 Internationals in the Caribbean, India needed the innovativeness of Suryakumar Yadav and the class of Tilak Varma to get on the board. As the teams depart for the final two clashes in Lauderhill in the United States this weekend, the series is still alive; West Indies hold a 2-1 advantage, but India have thrown themselves a lifeline with their commanding victory in Georgetown on Tuesday (August 8).

A concerning, if not yet alarming, pattern has emerged from the white-ball leg of the tour thus far. India did clinch the One-Day International series 2-1 but not without their fair share of challenges, while they are now required to play to their full potential, if not out of their skins, if they are to make a sweep of all three formats. That’s far from impossible, given the immense talent coursing through the ranks, but the time to harp on talent and potential is already in the past. This is about translating those promising traits into performances, which is the immediate task ahead of Hardik Pandya and Rahul Dravid.

It’s no longer in the realms of conjecture alone that Pandya will be India’s full-time T20I captain. Rohit Sharma hasn’t figured in any of India’s 11 matches in that format since the ten-wicket hammering at the hands of England in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup in Adelaide in November. It’s more or less certain that Rohit and Virat Kohli, whose last T20I appearance was also in the same encounter, will not be in the mix by the time of the next T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean next June-July. And even though the 20-over format isn’t really the in-focus entity right now, what with the 50-over World Cup due to begin in eight weeks’ time, the audition for the shorter World Cup is already underway.

Also read: 3rd T20I: Suryakumar special in Providence helps India keep series alive

Against that backdrop, there haven’t been too many positives for the decision-making group to take away from a batting perspective. Agreed, three matches is too short a dataset to draw conclusive inferences from, but these three games have turned out to be a continuation of the letdowns of the past.

Varma, the gifted 20-year-old from Hyderabad, has been an honourable exception. He first made people sit up and take notice during IPL 2022 when, in a star-studded Mumbai Indians line-up, he held his own with 397 wonderfully crafted runs even though the five-time champions finished bottom of the ten-team heap. This year, even though he made 54 runs fewer, he only played 11 games, averaging 42.87 at a strike-rate of 164.11. Only Suryakumar (181.13) boasted a better strike-rate for Mumbai, Varma wowing connoisseurs and T20 worshippers alike with his ability to both pierce the field with consummate ease or deposit the ball deep into the stands with minimum of fuss.

Varma’s strengths are his great balance (of body and mind), a strong grounding in the basics and the wonderful gift of not getting carried away. He faced a mini crisis of sorts last December when, on the ‘A’ tour of Bangladesh, he picked up an illness that forced him to return home and remain hospitalised for a couple of weeks. But he quickly regathered strength and continued to put in the hard yards at practice and in the gym, and the results are there for all to see.

Also read: 2nd T20I: Pooran steers West Indies to two-wicket win over India; hosts take 2-0 lead

In Varma’s exhilarating start to his international career – he is the leading run-scorer in the T20I series with 139, his consistency evident from efforts of 39 (on debut), 51 and 49 not out – is a lesson for his more glamorous and crowd-pleasing colleagues whose returns haven’t been commensurate with the hype around them. Take Sanju Samson, for instance. Every time he is overlooked from the playing XI, social media goes bananas with everything from conspiracy theories to jealousy proffered as reasons for his omission. And yet, there is a reason why the 28-year-old has only played 20 T20Is since his debut eight years back. For all the silken skills he displays in the early stages of most IPL seasons, Samson has only 320 T20I runs against his name, at an average of 18.82 and a strike-rate of 131.14. While it is undeniable that he hasn’t got too many games on the bounce – perhaps some of it has to do with his inconsistencies? – he has been around long enough to grab his chances, one would assume, for that’s what separates the very, very good from the regular folk. Perhaps a change of scenery, and a return to Lauderhill after a year will do the trick. Or a trip to Ireland in a week’s time, and a return to Malahide, where he made his only T20I half-century in June last year.

Samson hasn’t been the only underperformer with the bat. Pandya has got starts and not kicked on while Shubman Gill has gone spectacularly off the boil. Since a rip-roaring first five months of 2023 when he made an ODI hundred and a double ton, a maiden T20I century and a Test hundred in Ahmedabad against Australia, followed by two centuries in as many knocks in the IPL, he has managed just one effort above 50 in 11 international hits. In the T20I series this far, the stylish 23-year-old has made 3, 7 and 6. That happens to everyone, and contrary to the theories espoused in certain quarters, that’s neither due to arrogance nor overconfidence and complacency. Perhaps India are just unfortunate that three of their key batsmen have gone off the boil at the same time because otherwise, all other things being equal, they should be holding a 3-0 lead in this series. But teams aspiring for top-dog status make their own luck and that’s what Dravid and the support staff will be counting on.

Now that he has made his debut, Yashasvi Jaiswal can expect a couple of games and Rinku Singh will most likely make his maiden appearance in Ireland. There is plenty for the selectors to pick from, one of the offshoots of India’s popularity that earns them invitations from different parts of the world. The onus therefore is on the individuals to make the most of the plethora of opportunities that are coming their way, because lack of exposure or adequate chances can no longer be used as an excuse.

Also read: 1st T20I: Debutant Tilak shines but India lose to West Indies by 4 runs