During the 2nd T20I between India and New Zealand, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi batted at number three for the first time. Before the game in Christchurch, he had never played in that position for the Indian blue, and many former players and pundits believed that if he started, he should be opening, or else it wouldn’t be the best use of his skill set.
Sooryavanshi came into the side in place of Ishan Kishan, who bats at number three, and he was slotted into that position as well. He scored four runs from eight balls and looked anything but comfortable. Former Indian spinner Murali Kartik was unhappy about the decision.
“I was repeatedly saying this, even before the match started, especially before our batting, when you are playing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, where is he at his best? He is good as an opener,” Kartik said while speaking on Sony Sports.
“You have put him in the middle order. He hasn’t played there; he is a young kid and he has only batted in one way. This is exactly why you have experienced players, so they can play different roles,” Kartik said.
However, despite Sooryavanshi’s shortcomings, India managed to pull off a thrilling win. “In my opinion today, although they won the match, which is a different matter, if you are playing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, he should have opened today,” Kartik said.
“He should have opened. As a youngster, as soon as the management told him that he would bat at No.3, he would have panicked. He played only because Ishan Kishan was injured. Though it wasn’t wrong of the management not to break the opening combination, Suryavanshi doesn’t have the experience at No.3. His strength is batting at 0/0 with the anticipation of whether he’s going to hit a six or four off his first delivery,” Another former Indian cricketer, Sadagoppan Ramesh, said on his Instagram channel.