Almost everyone else took his turn to bat at the nets. Harshit Rana was constant, going hammer and tongs, and having conversations with Gautam Gambhir, his mentor. The team management is going through the process of grooming the youngster as an all-rounder and Rana’s steady progress is good news for Indian cricket.
On the eve of the T20I series opener, the Indian team had a full training session at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Tuesday, and the focus was on Ishan Kishan, who would bat at No. 3 in Tilak Varma’s absence. Suryakumar Yadav explained the decision.
“Ishan will bat at No. 3, as he is in our World Cup team, and we picked him first, so it’s his responsibility and his turn to play,” the skipper said at the pre-match press conference. “He has been doing well in domestic cricket, and he has not played for the Indian team for a year-and-a-half. And since we have picked him in the World Cup squad, I feel he deserves to play. If it were a question of No. 4 or 5, we may have thought differently. Unfortunately, Tilak isn’t here, and I think Ishan is the best bet at No. 3.”
After Tilak was ruled out of the first three matches of the series, the thought process was always to give Ishan an opportunity. A few days ago, however, the selectors added Shreyas Iyer to the squad. The Mumbai batter hasn’t featured in T20 cricket at any level since the 2025 IPL final, but given his pedigree in the shorter formats and experience, an eleventh-hour change wasn’t ruled out. The team management has rightly decided to look at the bigger picture.
Ishan’s last T20I was in November 2023 against Australia. Across formats, he is coming back to the India fold after two-and-a-half years. The challenge for the Jharkhand captain would be to hit the ground running. His form in domestic cricket inspires confidence.
The five-match series is also Surya’s last chance saloon. The T20 World Cup is less than a month away and the 35-year-old has been going through an elongated form slump. An average of 12.84 over his last 22 T20I innings attests that. India can’t afford to go to the ICC showpiece with their captain being the weak link in the batting line-up. Does Surya need to do anything differently to get out of the rut?
“I have been batting really well (at the nets) and, talking about the runs, they will definitely come,” said Surya. “But at the same time, I can’t do things differently. I don’t want to change my identity. What has given me success in the last three-four years, I would like to bat the same way. And then, if performance comes, I will take it. If it doesn’t come, I will go back to the drawing board, practise again, work hard and come back stronger.”
It’s probably now or never for the skipper.
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