India beat South Africa comfortably by 101 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series in Cuttack on Tuesday, December 9. India recovered from 17/2, 48/3, and 104/5 to reach around 175, which wasn't par for the course, but with their bowling, it looked like Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, and Varun Chakravarthy would make something of it, which they did. South Africa couldn't even play 13 overs as it was an off day for their batters and India managed to win it comfortably.
The optics might make it seem like it was a big win, since South Africa folded for their lowest T20I score, but the performance still had flaws and if India have to win the T20 World Cup in two months' time (not six) and defend their title, they can't let what is happening run the show. It's been 13 games since the start of the Asia Cup and India have crossed the 200-run mark once, against Sri Lanka in the dead rubber in the continental tournament.
Since India decided to bring back Shubman Gill as part of their larger plan to push for him as the all-format captain, the Men in Blue moved away from their 'handbrakes off' approach, which saw India cross the 200-mark six times in 12 innings, with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson not wasting any time at the top of the order. Gill is someone who will not blast the opposition off, but will provide solidity at the top; however, that doesn't seem to be working either for the batsman or the team.
The change and the after-effects
Abhishek Sharma, the No 1-ranked T20 batter, has surely made his mark and become irreplaceable, but the partnership is not letting even the southpaw go off the blocks as he would like to. Take the example of Tuesday, when India had both their captain Suryakumar Yadav and vice-captain Gill back in the hut by the 16th ball mark, Abhishek had played just one ball.
Gill was dismissed by Lungi Ngidi for a score of 4 when he tried to loft the Proteas pacer but handed it straight to the mid-on fielder, while Surya played out 11 balls and scored just 12 and got out, starving Abhishek off strike. Now, with India two down, Abhishek needed to slow down and play the ball on merit, which is not his game. Being the senior players in the side and the leaders, it should have been Gill and Surya's job, but people in that 'domain' surely know what they are doing.
In 13 innings, when Abhishek and Gill have opened together, they have crossed 50 on four occasions, but they have lost the first wicket before the third over six times. The number was similar when Abhishek and Samson opened alongside each other as well, but by then, India had already gone off the blocks, getting 25-30 runs quickly. Sanju Samson, who opened the innings in those 12 matches, scored three centuries in that period and still has better numbers as an opener (32.63 average, 178.77 strike rate) than Gill (29.00 average, 140.64 strike rate).
What was the need for the change?
Captain Suryakumar Yadav said that Shubman Gill deserved to take that spot, since he opened in the Sri Lanka series, which was his first assignment as captain after the T20 World Cup 2024. However, there is very little evidence, apart from that 'first-come first-served' logic of Surya for Gill being still deployed at the top of the order and Samson sitting out for no fault of his, since Jitesh Sharma is a better bet in the lower half of the order.
Gill hasn't scored a fifty in the 13 innings he has played. Even though just nine matches are remaining, it seems the chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, and head coach Gautam Gambhir-led plan is likely to continue until the T20 World Cup. However, there is enough evidence to suggest that it will be challenged against teams like Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa in big games, who will come out with their fearless approach, and India will have two solid players in the line-up, and a captain out of touch.
The 2022 T20 World Cup was a good tipping point in India's white-ball cricket when the Men in Blue changed their white-ball approach, led by the former skipper Rohit Sharma, which resulted in the hosts winning the next T20 World Cup and almost did it in the 2023 Cricket World Cup. However, this time around, India have the bowling to overcome the flaws in batting with Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy leading the pack.
