Ahead of the crucial Asia Cup and ODI World Cup, India has been experimenting with their batting order during their white-ball tour in West Indies. Notably, Axar Patel, Suryakumar Yadav, and Sanju Samson have been the primary subjects of this experimentation.
In the last ODI against the West Indies, Samson delivered a swift half-century in the middle order, which played a pivotal role in India setting their highest ODI score on West Indies soil (351). This impressive score helped them win the decisive game. Apart from Samson, there's been talk about Axar Patel's batting position, as he's been placed at No. 4 during the T20Is.
Indian spinner Ravi Ashwin provided his insights into these strategic changes. He thinks the Indian team is preparing backup strategies for KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, both of whom are recovering from injuries.
"It seems India is grooming Samson as an alternative for Rahul and Iyer, given their uncertain return before the World Cup. The experimentation with Patel at No. 4 indicates separate strategies for T20s and ODIs," Ashwin expressed on his YouTube channel.
Despite their experiments, India's performance in the ongoing T20 series hasn't been up to the mark. They trail 0-2 with three games left. It's expected that India will push hard to secure victories in the upcoming matches. One of the silver linings in the T20 series for India has been the debutant Tilak Varma, whose play has caught everyone's attention.
Ashwin was all praises for the young player, drawing parallels between Varma's and Rohit Sharma's playing style. He highlighted Varma's distinct pull shot, which is uncommon among Indian debutants but resembles the flair often seen in Australians.
India is scheduled to play their 3rd T20I against West Indies on 8 August in Guyana.
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