Former India batter Subramaniam Badrinath has urged India to consider bringing Varun Chakaravarthy into the playing XI in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the third T20I against New Zealand.
Sooryavanshi was included in the second T20I after Ishan Kishan was ruled out due to injury. However, the youngster looked out of sorts at No. 3, scoring just four runs off eight balls, before all-rounders Naman Dhir, Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy helped India chase 181 in the final over.
Badrinath believes India could benefit from adding another specialist bowler, arguing that the lower order has been contributing enough with the bat to allow the team to strengthen its bowling attack.
“Instead of playing Suryavanshi at No.3, India can play Varun Chakaravarthy
in the 11. The players down the order are doing well now. So, why not go for a bowler like Varun? New Zealand’s scores of 220 and 180 could have been 200 and 160 in the first two games,” Badrinath said on his YouTube channel.
Chakaravarthy, who’s an out-and-out bowler, has not played for India since suffering an abdominal side strain during the T20I series against Afghanistan last month. India have deployed all-rounders Axar Patel and Dhir as the sole spinners in the meantime.
Badrinath also opposed the idea of asking Sanju Samson to give up his opening position to accommodate Sooryavanshi, calling it ‘unfair’. While acknowledging that Samson has performed well at No. 3 in the IPL — 3096 runs at an average of 38.22 and a strike rate of 143.33 — Badrinath insisted India should prioritise the batter’s current role rather than disrupt the opening combination to fit in Sooryavanshi.
What about Kumar Kushagra?
It would go against the Gautam Gambhir-led team management’s policies if Sooryavanshi is dropped after just one match. Kishan is still injured, and there’s objectively no harm in giving the teenager another go at No. 3 — at the very least, he’ll learn something new in his nascent career.
However, if India do drop him, they might also look at Kumar Kushagra. The wicketkeeper-batter, though still unproven in T20s, has shown brilliant form in domestic List-A and First-Class cricket and might be seen as slightly better suited to the number-three spot because of his experience of batting in the middle-order.
