Just a couple of nights ago, Sourav Ganguly witnessed carnage from the dugout when Sunrisers Hyderabad piled on 266/7 vs Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. This wasn’t the first occasion in the ongoing Indian Premier League where SRH batted in that fashion and they are clearly looking in very ominous touch this season. Travis Head has been making a lot of noise for his intent at top of the order and many former cricketers have termed the approach as the way forward in the shortest format.
In just six innings, Head has accumulated 324 runs at an astonishing strike-rate of 216. He is second to Virat Kohli (379 runs in 8 innings) in the orange cap table but has the best strike-rate amongst the top-ten batters in the IPL so far. Kohli scored a hundred vs Rajasthan Royals earlier in the tournament but his strike-rate continues to divide the house.
The former India captain’s 67-ball 100 was the joint-slowest in the league’s history and slowest on Indian soil, and did trigger plenty of debates. Ganguly, however, is not too bothered by what’s being said about the strike-rate and threw his weight behind Kohli and feels the right-hander has the game to even score a 40-ball 100.
“Virat Kohli has got the capability of getting a 40-ball 100 also. That’s what I’m saying that India, with the talent they have, just need to go and hit. The mindset should be to hit and then we’ll see what happens after 5-6 overs,” says DC’s Director of Cricket Ganguly in a select media interaction in Delhi.
Kohli has now regularly opened for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL and while he did play at No.3 in previous edition of the T20 World Cup in Australia, Ganguly feels Rohit Sharma and Kohli at top of the order would make an ideal pair.
“It’s my personal opinion that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma should open for India in the T20 World Cup. India needs to go out and hit. Rohit, Virat, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya etc. All of them are exceptional talents and their six-hitting abilities are tremendous,” adds Ganguly.
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With Rohit and Kohli emerging as the option to open the innings in the USA and West Indies for 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup, some youngsters are expected to miss the cut and are likely to warm the bench. Ganguly bats for a mix of youth and experience in the squad and feels there is no hard and fast rule of playing youngsters in T20s.
“The most important thing for India is to play without fear. There is no hard and fast rule about age and playing youngsters in T20Is, James Anderson still plays Tests and bowls 30 overs in Tests, MS Dhoni still hits sixes and both are in their 40s. Six-hitting is important,” explains the former India captain.
Ganguly backs “special player” Jaiswal
If the men’s senior selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar pick both Rohit and Kohli as the first choice openers, then there is a possibility of either Shubman Gill or Yashasvi Jaiswal missing the bus. While Gill has had a decent IPL – 298 runs in eight innings – so far, Jaiswal has had a disappointing campaign with no fifty-plus score in seven matches.
Will the lacklustre IPL show affect his T20 WC chances? Ganguly hopes the selectors take into account both international and IPL performances of last couple of years and is confident that Rohit will make the right calls.
“I don’t think Yashasvi Jaiswal’s name has dropped too far down the ladder. He is a special player and the selectors are sharp enough. And you have Rohit Sharma at the top. He is got a fantastic head and he will know what to do and what not to do,” says Ganguly.
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