India's strategy for the upcoming T20 World Cup is becoming clear, and it’s bad news for Sanju Samson fans. The team's decision to pick Jitesh Sharma as the wicketkeeper-batter over Samson in the recent T20I matches, including the first T20I against South Africa, indicates that it is looking at the future.
It makes strategic sense, too, as the team needs a player who can finish the game with powerful hitting in the final overs – a role Jitesh specialises in. On the other hand, Sanju Samson is a natural top-order batsman who lost his spot when Shubman Gill returned, making it hard for him to find a place in the team.
Jitesh himself sees this finisher role as his speciality, calling it his "bread and butter". It's now expected that he will be India's first-choice wicket-keeper for the T20 World Cup, as long as he performs well in the upcoming matches.
For now, it seems the selectors are focused on Jitesh and Samson as the two main wicket-keeping options for the squad. There doesn't appear to be a need to look for other alternatives at this moment. India are likely to go in with the same combination in the second T20I against the Proteas tomorrow in Mullanpur (New Chandigarh).
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Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta said that if a wicketkeeper is needed in the middle or lower order, it's better to pick a specialist finisher like Jitesh rather than a top-order batsman like Sanju. "It is not easy batting for two balls or four balls," Dasgupta noted, highlighting the unique skills needed for a finisher.
He believes Jitesh is an expert in that position and doesn't expect many changes to the squad before the World Cup, with only nine games left to prepare.
Arshdeep Singh or Kuldeep Yadav?
Another major challenge in the team selection is to accommodate both pacer Arshdeep Singh and spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the same team. This is especially true if India wants a deep batting lineup that extends to the number eight.
This dilemma has raised questions before. Despite being India's top wicket-taker, Arshdeep was surprisingly benched for several games during the spin-friendly conditions in the UAE.
He made a significant impact in the first match against South Africa, getting a key wicket with a brilliant outswing delivery. His excellent bowling in the final overs is a skill that is hard to replace in T20 cricket.
However, to include Arshdeep, the team had to leave out another key player, Kuldeep – a match-winning spinner who has proven his ability to take wickets even in difficult, dewy conditions.
Dasgupta, who is part of the commentary team, commented on this dilemma, calling it "unfortunate". He pointed out that while you would ideally want both in the team,
While the team looks strong overall, the form of captain Suryakumar Yadav and vice-captain Gill is a concern. In 17 T20Is and 15 innings, Yadav has scored only 184 runs at an average of 15.33 and a strike rate of 127.77. He has failed to score a half-century in his last 20 innings (including five domestic matches).
Gill has performed marginally better. In 12 matches, he has scored 259 runs at an average of 28.77, with a strike rate of 143.09.
It remains to be seen if the team management will take the bold call of reverting to the original Samson-Abhishek Sharma pair at the top later in the series against South Africa.