England finally got over the line. The visitors couldn’t get the win in the previous game as Tilak Varma stole the game from under their noses with one of the greatest innings you’ll see played in a chase. But this time around, no one stood in their way. From 127/8 in 16 overs, England made 171 runs. That tipped the game in their favour, but in fairness, the Indian cricket team helped them get back into the 5-match series.
Gambhir’s obsession with right-left combination
As usual, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to open the innings. Samson once again perished against Jofra Archer on a short ball. Abhishek Sharma played his shots but couldn’t last long either. But it wasn’t his dismissal that got everyone interested but rather that captain Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat instead of Tilak Varma.
Why did Team India do that? Because head coach Gautam Gambhir remains fixated on the right-left combination theory. Tilak had mentioned after bagging the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the last match that the management doesn’t want right or left-handed batters in the middle at the same time.
So Suryakumar promoted himself. When he departed, Hardik Pandya came in, so not much shock. That’s where the all-rounder often bats, at number five. But after Tilak was dismissed by one of the ‘Ball of the Year’ contenders from Adil Rashid, in walked not Dhruv Jurel, the best batter left in the line-up, but Washington Sundar.
Sundar was the next to be dismissed, and you’d think Jurel comes in. But no. Axar Patel was the one who joined Pandya in the middle. Jurel finally came in, not when the team was 68/4 after 7.6 overs but when Team India was 123/6 after 17.2 overs. From there, there was nothing the wicketkeeper batter could do.
Hardik Pandya’s refusal to give strike to Dhruv Jurel
But even when Jurel joined Pandya, there was a blunder. On the last ball of the 18th over, Jurel hit the ball to deep square leg; the run was there to be taken, but Pandya refused. 42 runs were needed from 13 balls, but Pandya didn’t take the single. Then the very next ball, the all-rounder was caught at long-off.
It did no good to Pandya or Team India, but decisions like these were why Team India lost the third T20I and gave up their chance to seal the series in Rajkot.
