India and South Africa played the third and final T20I of the series at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru after the first match was washed out due to wet outfield at Dharamsala and the second match being won by the Indian team at Mohali by seven wickets.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli surprised everyone with his decision of batting first on a pitch that favours teams chasing, but he said that he wants to put his team in testing conditions keeping in mind the upcoming T20I World Cup in 2020 in Australia.
The team really found itself in a difficult situation when India’s top three batsmen got out early. Opening batsmen Rohit Sharma was caught in the slips off Beuran Hendricks in the third over and Shikhar Dhawan, who was looking in good touch, also saw his way back when he could only manage to sky the ball in the eighth over and was caught by Temba Bavuma.
His wicket meant that the number four batsman comes into bat. India have been looking for a number four batsman for a long time who can fit into the role. Coming this early in the innings, the number four is supposed to play sensible shots, take his time to settle and keep rotating the strike with the in-form batsman and captain already present at the other end.
Rishabh Pant has become a regular for the Indian side to bat at number four but in his recent performances he has failed to prove himself as the best contender for the position. His continuous failures have led to team management look for an alternative and hence, Shreyas Iyer was given a place into the side. In a situation like the third T20I produced, Shreyas would have been the ideal choice to step in ahead of Pant, but it was Pant again who came in to bat at number four.
It was same old Pant, trying to get quick runs by hitting the ball all over the park, playing careless shots while trying to stick to his natural gameplay of playing fearless cricket. He somehow managed to get 19 runs off 20 balls before getting out.
Read: 'Fearless' Pant cannot be 'careless', says India coach
If Kohli wanted to try out his options and put the team under testing conditions, this would have been a perfect situation for the management to test Shreyas at four. However, the captain had already prepared an answer when the reporters at the post-match conference asked him about this.
"I think there was a miscommunication there. That's what I understood afterwards," Kohli said in the post-match presentation. "The batting coach had had a word with both of them and there was a misunderstanding about who has to go at what stage. It was a little funny as well afterwards as they both wanted to walk in. It would have been very funny if both reached the pitch, three batsmen in the field! I think it was a miscommunication at that stage.”
"We had planned according to phases. After 10 overs, we decided Rishabh would come in. Before that Shreyas had to walk in. I think both got confused and didn't realize who has to walk in at which stage. That was a miscommunication there."
Seems like the team management, the captain and the players themselves are all confused. Maybe that’s the headache of the number four position in the team which has surrounded Indian cricket for a long time.
Feature Image Courtesy: AFP/ Randy Brooks
