India playing puzzle XI against Zimbabwe: Sanju Samson is a strong contender, Axar Patel likely to return | Cricket News –

TimesofIndia.com in Chennai: The risks are high. The remaining Super Eight matches are must-win matches, and depend on which results go in South Africa’s favour. The situation was not that desperate, but the ‘worst match in the last two years’ put the Indian cricket team in a tough spot ahead of the clash against Zimbabwe in Chennai.

The last five matches have shown that the defending champions have been tactically predictable due to an overdose of left-handed players. Since the defeat in Ahmedabad on Sunday, calls for the addition of a right-hander have grown. This is not to say that Sanju Samson is the solution to all problems, but it gives you a tactical advantage and can force opponents to move away from an unexpected plan.The wicket-keeper-batsman took a long hit into the nets on Tuesday and a strong hint of playing XI appeared when he donned the large gloves for training at the end of the session.

He faced a combination of pace and spin during the marathon knock and became more confident when playing against Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar. India assistant coach Ryan Ten Deutschat said after the South Africa match that Samson would be a talking point in the next few days and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak confirmed that discussions had taken place around the right-hander.

However, Kotak kept his eleventh playing cards close to his chest.

“There could be changes, yes. It goes without saying that we have discussed it, because there are two left-handed openers, number three is also left-handed and the opposition is bowling the ball off-spin. Personally I don’t think there is any problem there either. But because we lost a wicket in the first over, obviously any team would think. So we are thinking and we will see how it goes because we don’t decide the team too early and obviously it’s not fair to start telling your plans in advance as well.”

“But yes, there will definitely be ideas,” Kotak said on the eve of the match.If Sanju returns to the India XI, he will balance the left-right issue, but the entry points for the middle order, especially the lower-order launch, led by Shivam Dubey, could become interesting in the remaining two matches. Dropping Tilak Varma for Samson and moving Ishan Kishan to third could have been another option, but Kotak’s support for the left-arm pacer did not point in that direction.

This is despite a sorry showing this tournament – 107 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 118.88. Kotak supported and monitored Tilak during the team’s optional training session in the afternoon.

“Tilak has no such problems. In the Pakistan match, our target was good. I said earlier that 175 on that wicket was good enough. And we followed the layout. Because the same thing – and there the ball was already turning,” he said.

After that start, no team wants to go 3-4 wickets at once. So Tilak…it’s a matter of two extremes. Sometimes the batsman doesn’t get those balls. If he is 34-35 in 30 – 32 balls or 26 in 28 balls – if he gets one or two boundaries and a six, he will be on 38.“So I don’t think it’s about running the ball. He doesn’t have any instructions like that, nor does he think that way himself. Sometimes depending on the wicket and depending on the situation, I think there was more about the partnerships in that match in Colombo and I think we achieved that.”

Yes, if Hardik had clicked more, and who was off the first ball, we would have hoped for 190 and we knew that was higher than the expected score and everyone knew that.

So, there is no such tension between Tilak or Abhishek or even losing a single match.”Another talking point will be Rinku Singh and his place in the starting XI. The left-hander had modest returns in the tournament and missed team training due to a personal emergency. Although he is set to rejoin the squad on Wednesday evening, retaining the position looks highly unlikely at this stage.

This may leave management with another change. If Samson comes in with Tilak in his place, the two players on their way out could be Rinku Singh and Washington Sundar, making way for all-rounder and vice-captain Axar Patel.

It will be interesting to see what type of batting order they choose but adding the right-hander into the mix gives them a tactical advantage – something that has actually been a point of discussion recently.“The discussions, to be very honest, if I tell you, are more about tactics. There are a lot of tactical discussions going on, guys are bowling here, this is how we approach it, this is how we approach it, what are the other options available to any batsman. Not just for Tilak, for Abhishek as well, if you saw yesterday, it was the same thing that we talked about. So these things are more about planning, what the batsman can set up and how much he wants to do it because the end of the day, it’s a man’s business.” The striker gets to decide what he likes and what he wants to do.

But obviously bringing different ideas is our mission,” Kotak explained.Far from lacking the enthusiasm and confidence of previous bilateral talks, India was tactically questionable. Thursday represents an opportunity to not only address that but also find a lineup that can help them cover all the bases and stay ahead of the opposition.