Politic in Indian Cricket

There was a time when India had a perennial problem plaguing their side — the elusive No. 4 spot. India tried and tested so many batsmen at 2-down in limited-overs cricket that even fans lost track of who was playing at that position. It had essentially become — as Aakash Chopra said — 'a case of musical chairs' with batsmen scurrying to occupy that one seat in the Indian playing XI. Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Vijay Shankar, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and MS Dhoni, all were tried for the position, but none for too long. Ambati Rayudu in particular, was a victim of questionable selection policies, despite being backed fully by the Indian captain Virat Kohli.

India's erratic selection policies and at times confusing decisions were criticized by experts, analysts, and fans alike. It is only natural for a player to not perform to his potential when he constantly has a sword hanging over his head — he could be sacked anytime. For any player to flourish, he must be given the assurance of a long rope and be backed for a minimum number of matches before being replaced. This assurance was absent for a long time in Indian cricket, especially in ODIs and T20Is, and many of the players auditioning for the role were in an environment where they were insecure about their place on the side.

However, the winds of change are now blowing stronger than ever before. One reason could be the appointment of a strong, able, and widely respected BCCI President, Saurav Ganguly, who is a firm believer in the theory of backing players to the hilt. Even when Ganguly was the skipper of the national side, he always supported the players who he believed possessed potential, which was a huge factor behind the rise of legends like MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. As the president of the largest cricket association in the world, Ganguly will undoubtedly provide players longer opportunities to prove their worth and get accustomed to playing at a particular spot in the Indian XI. The appointment of former CAB president and Indian captain Saurav Ganguly as the new BCCI president could lead to Indian cricket flourishing even further.

In India's latest limited-overs series, the West Indies Tour of India, we have seen the Indian batsmen come of age and gawked at the batting unit functioning as a well-oiled machine. Despite West Indian batsman rampaging and scoring 207-5 in the 1st T20I at Hyderabad, we witnessed one of the greatest chases in T20s as KL Rahul 62 and Virat Kohli 94 masterfully led the Indian team to victory. The young lad Rishabh Pant, hailed as MS Dhoni's successor, has been facing criticism for quite a while. He has been playing immaturely in a brash manner, often throwing away his wicket due to rash shots. A similar situation occurred in the 1st T20 as Pant's cameo of 18 was cut short by Sheldon Cottrell. However, thanks to Rahul and Kohli's brilliance, the other batsmen's failures were masked.

In the second T20I at Thiruvananthapuram, the Indian batting order was shuffled. Despite Shivam Dube's 54 and Rishabh Pant's 33, India struggled to a total of 170-7. This total was not enough as the West Indies batsmen bashed their way to the total in just 18.3 overs after being gifted reprieves in the form of dropped catches multiple times.

In the third T20I at Mumbai, the Indian openers got off to a destructive start, and the carnage continued right throughout the innings as Rohit Sharma 71(34), KL Rahul 91, and Virat Kohli 70 carted the Caribbean bowlers to all parts of the ground, racking up a menacing 240-3. Although Rishabh's promotion to No.3 was a failed experiment as he departed for a duck, the top order's exceptional batting did not leave much opportunity for the other batsmen.

In the first ODI at Chennai, India was in a spot of bother as all the top-order batsmen had been dismissed early. Going by the trend of the last few years, most people expected that India would face another severe batting collapse without the top order. However, the young guns of Shreyas Iyer at No.4 and Rishabh Pant at No.5 joined forces in the middle and fought it out. What we witnessed in Iyer's 70 and Pant's 71 was an exceptional maturity and control that had been missing for years in the Indian middle order.

Rishabh curbed his natural attacking instincts and only went for the big shots when needed. This was a sight for sore eyes and in stark contrast to his previous innings, where he recklessly attempted hitting most balls out of the park. The performance of the Indian middle-order in this match proved to the world that they could play according to the situation, which fans had been waiting to see for years. Shreyas and Rishabh showed that they could rebuild the innings even from a dire situation. In the 1st ODI, Rishabh Pant rescued the team from a dire situation by partnering up with the incumbent No. 4, Shreyas Iyer. They both played mature innings, adapting to the need of the hour.

In the second ODI at Vizag, the Indian openers wreaked havoc, with both Rohit and Rahul scoring twin tons. Despite Virat Kohli's duck, the middle order coming in had a brilliant platform laid out for them to capitalize on. And boy did they capitalize. Rishabh assumed his destructive avatar, scoring 39 off a mere 16 balls, with 4 sixes and 3 fours. Shreyas, who had been playing the anchor role for the initial part of the innings, also flaunted his hitting abilities, even scoring 30 runs off one over! His 53 held the Indian innings together in the middle phase and paved the way for India's massive total of 387-5. Shreyas Iyer at No. 4 has proved that he can play according to the situation, and do it all — rebuild the innings, defend, rotate the strike, or attack the bowlers, scoring boundaries at will.

Conclusion

With exceptional players like Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan/KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli forming the top order, the middle order doesn't get many opportunities to bat long. However, when the middle order must perform due to the failure of the top 3, the middle-order batsmen are often found lacking.

With Shreyas Iyer at No.4 and Rishabh Pant at No.5, followed by either Kedar Jadhav, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, or Hardik Pandya at No. 6 and No.7, the batting lineup looks very strong and capable of handling any type of situation. In the upcoming matches, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant will prove further why they are the ideal men to handle the varying situations faced by the middle order in both ODIs and T20Is. Their success is crucial for the bright future of Indian cricket.