Former Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik believes the ghosts of the recent tour to Ireland heavily influenced India’s surprising decision to bat first in the opening T20I against England.
Despite overcast conditions and the looming threat of rain at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, skipper Shreyas Iyer chose to set a target rather than chase. Teams often prefer to field first in T20 cricket when the weather threatens to bring the DLS method into play. However, coming off a shocking 0-2 whitewash at the hands of Ireland — where India faltered while chasing in both fixtures — Karthik noted that the team looked keen to avoid the pressure of another chase.
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“India, choosing to bat, was a good decision, even though, obviously, there was a bit of weather around the corner constantly… The general tendency is to chase down totals,” he told Cricbuzz.
“It was a bit off and awkward evening here because rain was always looming around the corner, but I do think the Ireland hangover was there a bit. So, India decided, ‘let’s not chase and bat first’,” he added.
The decision initially looked disastrous, as India found themselves reeling at 6-2 inside two overs, following the early dismissals of Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan to the new ball. But Shreyas Iyer and Abhishek Sharma stabilised the innings with aggressive half-centuries, laying the foundation for India to post a competitive 189-7 before rain washed out the English chase entirely.
Under immense scrutiny after managing just 13 runs across two matches in the disastrous Ireland series, the new T20I captain anchored the recovery and top-scored with a commanding 68 off 47 deliveries, a performance Karthik highlighted as essential for his authority as captain.
“He wanted to get rid of the pressure, so he batted nicely,” Karthik observed. “He must have been under pressure, because as a leader, you need to walk the talk with the bat first, and he knew that. The skipper needed to put his hand up and say, ‘I am the skipper, I will get the runs’, and he did it quite nicely”.
The wait continues for Sooryavanshi amid struggles for certain batsmen
While Iyer found form, opener Samson suffered another poor score. Tilak Varma also struggled to make a significant impact on the game. Their continued struggles have amplified the calls for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s inclusion. However, Karthik backed the team management’s decision to stick with Samson for the series opener.
“Sanju Samson has, once again, had a bit of a failure. Three innings on the bounce means the calls are coming nice and loud for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, but I still hope they back someone like Sanju Samson, because, under pressure, in the T20 World Cup, a few months ago, he got the job done, so we have to back him.
“Vaibhav needs to earn the right to play in this XI even though he is extremely talented, and I have no doubt he is going to do very well in international cricket,” he said.
India will look to put their recent struggles in the rearview mirror when they face England in the second T20I at Old Trafford on Saturday.