Ranchi, Oct. 8 -- Sanju Samson's lean run is the lone sore point in an otherwise firing batting line-up and it will prompt the team management to ponder over pairing teen sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi with opener Abhishek Sharma in the second T20I against the West Indies here on Friday.
A win here will power India to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, but the hosts will certainly want a more productive outing from Samson.
The Kerala batter's last four innings read: 9, 7, 2, 11. Consequently, the partnerships involving Samson in the previous four matches stand at: 7, 12, 2 (both for 2nd wicket with Sooryavanshi coming in as opener), and 29.
But the middle-order led by skipper Shreyas Iyer, who has finally found his footing as T20I captain, has covered up those failures in spectacular fashion. Iyer also hammered his maiden T20I century in the 68th match of his career.
So, there will be a temptation to give Sooryavanshi another run. The left-hander has shown that T20 cricket comes naturally to him in the limited opportunities he has received so far. His wide and unique range of shots, coupled with the ability to produce match-winning knocks have made him a compelling package.
But India have so far backed the established opening combination of Abhishek and Samson.
The management's support of Samson was evident when he was accommodated at No.3 in the Asian Games in Japan, while giving the opening slot to Sooryavanshi.
However, Samson is yet to respond to that show of faith in him with matching performances.
In that context, the current five-match series against the Caribbeans could become significant for Samson as he cannot hang on to his World Cup performances for an eternity.
But Sooryavanshi, for all his talent, has also discovered that international cricket is a different beast.
He scored 14, 13 and 15 in India's 0-3 defeat in the T20I series against England. In the Asian Games, the Bihar batter made 18 and 35.
They are not bad scores in isolation for a beginner but they also demonstrated the fact that he cannot be rushed into top level cricket simply because of the hype around him.
India's management will therefore be thinking hard about all the corners before handing another chance to the 15-year-old.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.