Abhishek Nayar wants Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to open if picked for fifth T20I

Abhishek Nayar is tempted to include Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in India's fifth T20I against the West Indies but insists he must open. Nayar also backed Kuldeep Yadav's inclusion and praised Sanju Samson's explosive 56 off 23 balls in the previous match.

New Delhi: Former India cricketer Abhishek Nayar is tempted to bring in teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the fifth and final T20I of the ongoing series against the West Indies, but wants the youngster to play at his original opening place and not below that.

India have played with nearly the same teams throughout the four T20Is, with the top order featuring Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan. That has meant the 15-year-old has to warm the benches in all the matches till now, and he has not played an international match on home soil so far.

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Sooryavanshi has played in eight T20Is, and all of his outings have come in overseas conditions, as India have gone with their tried and tested top three at home.

Former India assistant coach Nayar discussed India’s combinations for the must-win fifth T20I against the Windies as the series stands locked at 2-2. He called for inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav and was eager to bring in Sooryavanshi but could not find a spot anywhere other than the opening slot.

“I think India are in a Catch-22 situation. I’ll take a punt and try and go the Kuldeep Yadav way (for the fifth match). So, I may replace Naman Dhir with Kuldeep Yadav and get Nitish and Axar one place up. Axar Patel has also played that role of a floater really well for Team India when he has been sent up.

“I am very tempted to play Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. But are you going to play him out of position? If Vaibhav Sooryavanshi is playing, then he plays in his strongest position, which is opening. And if he is opening, then whoever is number three should also be playing in his strongest position.

“However tempted I may be to see Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, that too in Bengaluru in such good conditions, I will make changes in the bowling, not in the batting at all,” Nayar told JioStar.

He also discussed Samson’s strong knock of 56 from 23 balls as India were chasing 248 as Abhishek Sharma was struggling. “In the beginning, it was a very good strategic call, with Sanju Samson taking the strike. After that, the way he was batting, it felt like he was setting himself up for a big one because he was in control. His base was good, along with control, and his head was steady.

“It felt like that dangerous Sanju was back in his rhythm in the last game. He will take this confidence into Bengaluru, and I feel this Indian team will be in a much better position because a lot of the batters are in form. It’s only a matter of them delivering together,” he said.

While Samson put up a strong performance, Ishan Kishan was dismissed early for six, and Abhishek had a rare struggle for his 29 runs as he took 24 balls. “Yes, Abhishek Sharma wasn’t in his greatest of flows, but Sanju Samson took over. That start, even though India didn’t get that result, is invaluable because you could get close.

“So, you want to take that confidence going forward and say, if Sanju can bat for a few more overs, then in the next game, India will be sitting pretty in making sure they win the series 3-2,” he added.