To the point first. India finished on 168 for 6 in their Asia Cup Super Four match against Bangladesh after racing to 72 without loss in the first six overs. Five wickets fell inside the next nine overs and, crucially, Sanju Samson never left the pavilion. That single detail prompted most of the post-match debate.
Former opener Aakash Chopra summed up the mood: “What India were trying to do with the batting order is baffling to say the least. I cannot wrap my head around it.” Varun Aaron, equally bemused, added: “Axar ahead of Samson? I do not understand it.”
What actually happened
Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma looked untroubled early on a surface that encouraged clean, through-the-line hitting. Gill’s dismissal in the seventh over, bowled by leg-spinner Rishad Hossain, brought Shivam Dube to No. 3. Three balls later Dube picked out long-off for 2. From 112 for 2 after 11 overs India mustered only 56 runs for the loss of four further wickets.
Why Dube, not Samson?
At the presentation Suryakumar Yadav tried to explain. “Looking at their bowling line-up – they had a left-arm spinner, they had a legspinner – Dube was a perfect match-up at that moment. His entry point was perfect – seven to 15 overs. So we took that chance. It did not go well, but in the games ahead, we might try doing that again.”
Flexibility has been India’s stated policy all tournament. Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said earlier in the week that “everyone is prepared to bat at any number”. The idea is to keep a left-right combination going and to exploit so-called match-ups. Since Gill reclaimed an opening slot, Samson has appeared only once at No. 3 in five matches.
Aaron accepts the theory yet remains unconvinced by the practice. “They thought they could get Dube on to take down the spinners. But Sanju Samson is another option; he could have been slotted in early today. We know how he enjoys batting slightly up top.” Later, when Axar Patel – a bowling all-rounder – walked in as late as the 15th over, Aaron simply repeated, “Axar ahead of Samson? I do not understand it.”
Numbers that matter
Dube’s recent numbers against spin are modest; his strike-rate has dipped below 120 over the last 12 T20I innings. Samson, by contrast, struck three international hundreds last year and continues to score at well over 140. Chopra’s view is that the gap between India’s top-eight strike-rates is “not significant enough to justify this much chopping and changing”.
A word for Bangladesh
None of this should take away from the hosts. Rishad Hossain removed Gill and Suryakumar in an excellent four-over spell, while left-armer Nasum Ahmed conceded only a single boundary. Their tight lines in the middle overs turned India’s brisk launch into a rather middling total.
What next
India may well persist with their floating order; the coaching staff regard flexibility as essential ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup. Whether Samson continues to float quite so low is the real question. For now, though, the final word goes to Aaron: “The man got three T20I centuries last year, you’ve got to cut him some slack.”
