Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif slammed the Shreyas Iyer-led side's decision to leave out Sanju Samson and field a left-handed opening pair again. Kaif believes the team has repeated a mistake it had already corrected during its successful T20 World Cup campaign.
Samson was left out of the playing XI for the second T20I against England to make way for 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who made his international debut. The teenager scored 14 runs from 10 balls before being dismissed by off-spinner Will Jacks.
Jacks made the most of India’s top order, which had only one right-hander in the first seven batters. The England all-rounder gave away just 22 runs in his three overs and played a key role as England secured a four-wicket win to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
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Why left-handed opening pair might backfire for India?
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif said India had faced a similar issue during the T20 World Cup when opponents targeted the left-handed opening pair with off-spin. According to him, Samson’s return during that tournament helped solve the problem by giving India a better right-left combination at the top.
Kaif also felt Samson should not be judged only on a few poor scores, saying the wicketkeeper-batter has shown over the years that he can produce match-winning innings.
Samson to feature as opener, Abhishek or Sooryavanshi to move down to No. 3
The former India batter believes Samson should return to the opening slot, while either Abhishek Sharma or Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can move down to No. 3 to give the batting order more balance and defined roles.