Indian cricket is facing a problem that is unique to the team management – not a lack of talent but an overwhelming surplus of it. There seems to be a “problem of plenty”, meaning that even players that perform consistently are having to fight for a place in the team, waiting in the shadows, endlessly, for a chance to prove their worth.
Take Abhimanyu Easwaran, for example. He was part of the squad for both the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. A total of ten Test matches, but he didn’t make it into the playing XI even once. Not because of form or fitness, but simply due to the team combination.
Or let’s even talk about the case of Kuldeep Yadav, one of India’s best, a proven wicket-taking option. Not once did he find a place in the XI during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Throughout the series, India kept tinkering with their lineup, but Kuldeep was left out every time. The skipper, Shubman Gill explained ahead of the second Test, where India deployed the two-spinner strategy, “We were tempted to play Kuldeep but looking at the last match, our lower order didn’t do well, so decided to add some depth to the batting.”
That depth was guaranteed by Washington Sundar, who was chosen ahead of Kuldeep as the second spinner. The move worked because Washington bailed out the team on multiple occasions, with four wickets in the third Test, a century at Old Trafford in the fourth and a fighting half-century in the second innings of the final match.
The same problem has evidently spilled over into T20Is. Ahead of the Asia Cup, Sanju Samson seemed set to start as India’s first-choice opener after regularly featuring there in the recent past, or so we thought. But the inclusion of Test captain Shubman Gill changed the scenario for Samson, who seems to now be fighting for a place in the team.
Gill will now open alongside the flamboyant Abhishek Sharma, while Tilak Varma, averaging 55, with a strike-rate of close to 170, at No. 3, and skipper Suryakumar Yadav at No. 4. The batting order leaves little space for Samson. Could he possibly be pushed to No. 5? Unlikely, since his best performances, including three T20I tons, have all come at the top of the order. If those waters weren’t treacherous enough, Samson’s place as a wicketkeeper isn’t guaranteed either with Jitesh Sharma now in the squad. Jitesh is a proven finisher down the order, and that almost shuts the door on Samson.
Another two names that come to mind are Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer. Neither has done anything wrong to be snubbed from the Asia Cup squad but sport is cruel. When asked about Iyer’s omission during the Asia Cup squad announcement, the chief selector Ajit Agarkar was blunt: “No fault of his own. He just had to wait for his chance. You have to tell me, who will you replace him with?”
Agarkar also explained why Jaiswal missed out. Not because of his batting but because Abhishek Sharma’s left-arm spin was on offer, something the team “required”. Plus, Samson is already a dedicated opener waiting for his turn in the team.
This is Indian cricket’s strange paradox. The depth of talent is unmatched, the bench doesn’t seem to be large enough to fit the dozens of extraordinary players waiting in line. But it also means proven players are constantly fighting battles outside the field, against combinations, balance, and timing, with no guarantees over when their chance will finally come.
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