Shamik Chakrabarty at Pallekele
The template remains the same — going gung-ho from the outset — but apparently it has been ‘embellished’ with a couple of modifications. Gautam Gambhir spoke about inheriting a successful team from Rahul Dravid. But the new India coach is his own man and on his first assignment, he gave a peek into his thought process.
India chose to play the specialists in the first T20I against Sri Lanka, at the expense of bits and pieces players. Riyan Parag and Rinku Singh were preferred over Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar. And with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill opening the innings, Rishabh Pant came in at No. 4 instead of No. 3 to keep the left-right combination going. It was commonsense.
Dube had a moderately successful T20 World Cup, playing a couple of important knocks and scoring 133 runs in eight matches. Despite being a batting all-rounder, he bowled just one over, as the team management ostensibly couldn’t trust him with the ball. Against Sri Lanka, Parag was picked as a frontline batter. Yes, the 22-year-old from Assam can chip in with a bit of leg-spin if the occasion demands. But his primary role is to contribute as a middle-order batter. Parag was done in by a Matheesha Pathirana yorker and departed for seven off six balls. But the clear brief to the players was to play without the fear of failure.
On a Pallekele pitch, where spinners get some purchase, Washington’s inclusion in the playing XI was thought to be logical. Gambhir begged to differ. Rinku is the team’s designated finisher and he would be used in that capacity.
Gambhir did that in Kolkata Knight Riders also. His 2024 IPL-winning side kept bits and pieces stuff at arm’s length. Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were the two genuine all-rounders. Even Ramandeep Singh at No. 7 played as a specialist batter, a finisher. Gambhir’s opening act for India was pretty akin to his KKR template.
And he gave his players the licence to thrill. This, of course, doesn’t offer a novelty. India changed their T20I batting approach after the hammering against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final. Two years down the line, they went on to become the world champions in this format. But a new opening combination of Jaiswal and Gill adds an even greater power-punch to India’s batting at the top.
Jaiswal’s beginning was a case in point. Dilshan Madushanka started the proceedings with a short delivery that angled down, and the opener pulled it to the backward square-leg fence. There was no time for looseners or sighters. Thirteen runs were taken off the first over.
In the third over, Maheesh Theekshana straight away called for a review after Jaiswal missed a sweep. But as DRS showed, the ball would have carried on with the angle to miss the off stump. It was a close call, but the southpaw remained unfazed. He nonchalantly hit Asitha Fernando over deep mid-wicket for a six in the next over.
At the other end, Gill at times was toying with the bowling. He scored 34 off 16 balls, while Jaiswal made 40 off 21. The two youngsters put on a 74-run opening stand in 36 deliveries. It was the irreverence of youth, something that Gambhir craves.
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