India grapples with Sooryavanshi’s inclusion; focus on Samson, Kishan, Abhishek vs Ireland

Accommodating teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the starting eleven will be the toughest riddle for the team management when India steps into a new T20 era under Shreyas Iyer in the first of a two-match series against Ireland here on Friday. There is heightened interest surrounding Sooryavanshi’s possible international debut after the 15-year-old’s stunning run in the IPL and a marauding 29-ball 94 for India A against Sri Lanka A in a tri-series one-day match at Dambulla.

But acceding to the popular demand will not be easy for the think tank.

Currently, India’s top three are: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan. And their overall and recent T20 records are not easy to ignore. Samson, Abhishek and Kishan made fifties in the ICC T20 World Cup final win over New Zealand in March, which was also India’s last assignment in the shortest format.

If the management wants to include Sooryavanshi, an opener, then one of Samson or Abhishek will have to go down or sit out, and that is a harsh step in the aftermath of a World Cup title win.

The bigwigs can push Samson down to the middle-order, as he has batted at No. 4 and No. 5 in the past.

But those slots will now be taken by skipper Iyer and his deputy Tilak Varma, leaving No. 6 the only open space.

However, it traditionally belongs to an all-rounder and India have multiple choices in Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and newcomer Suryansh Shedge.

Placing Samson at No. 6 will force India to enter the field with just five bowlers, and that department already wears a thin look in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj and Varun Chakravarthy. Even otherwise, Samson has excellent numbers at the pole position — 926 from 28 innings with three hundreds and four fifties, striking at 181.93. His strike-rate at Nos 3, 4 and 5 respectively are not particularly confidence-inspiring 121, 129 and 127 respectively.