'He was a fish out of water': Sooryavanshi's No. 3 role questioned after 2nd T20I

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Ravichandran Ashwin believes Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was uncomfortable batting at No. 3 in India’s second T20I against New Zealand and feels the team management should reconsider his position. The teenage batter, who replaced the injured Ishan Kishan in the playing XI, managed just four runs off eight balls after coming in during the sixth over.Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma continued to open, leaving Sooryavanshi to bat in an unfamiliar position. Speaking after the match in Christchurch, Ashwin described the youngster as a “miss” but stressed that it was too early to judge him negatively.

"That is a miss. For a young cricketer like Vaibhav, 'miss' is too early I think to say, but because I have only two options of a hit or a miss, he just found himself a little like a fish out of water.

He kept going hard, kept going hard for the eight balls," he said.Ashwin felt Sooryavanshi needed guidance from an experienced batter while trying to settle into the unfamiliar role. He said a senior partner could have helped the youngster remain calm and focus on playing the ball more carefully."It did not feel like he was ever timing the ball, and that is when you need a senior partner to walk down to him and say, 'Calm down, just hang in there, look to play close to your body, watch the ball better.'

Sometimes, as a batter, all you need to be told is to watch the ball closer. You do miss that in all the action that happens around you. So I just felt like he was a fish out of water. Walking in during the sixth over is not his cup of tea," he explained.Ashwin suggested that if India want to play Sooryavanshi, Abhishek and Samson together, Samson should move to No. 3, a role he has previously performed for India."Look, I think they played this combination before, and Sanju had to skip down to number three.

If they are going to go with this combination, I am not too sure Vaibhav has got to bat at number three, but it is what it is. Today it was a miss for Vaibhav," Ashwin further said.

Ashwin praises India’s middle order

Ashwin also praised India’s middle order, particularly Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ramandeep Singh, for helping the team chase New Zealand’s total of 180.

"India's middle order is coming through nicely. That is six, seven, and eight. It looks pretty dangerous.

All of them can belt the ball. Ramandeep is a very good hitter of pace bowling. He is showing that he can really club spinners as well. To stand and hit a spinner of Mitchell Santner's pedigree is no joke, and that tells you the ability of a batter. He looks unflappable when he is batting. Great temperament."Tilak Varma is echoing great temperament. I am not too sure about Nitish's temperament yet, but there is enough power for teams to be concerned about when they come up against India's lower middle order and middle order. It is a big hit for me," Ashwin concluded.