India’s batting line-up for the T20 world cup in Australia is filled with a number of right-handed batsmen. Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant and All-rounder Axar Patel are the only two lefties in the team but the former’s chances of breaking into the Playing XI seems complicated given the presence of finisher Dinesh Karthik.
The inaugural T20 world cup champions can miss an impactful lefty hitter who can ease the pressure on Karthik. Reliable All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja‘s absence makes it obvious for Axar Patel to start every game as he is a like-for-like replacement for Jaddu but Patel’s batting is not as effective as Jadeja’s.
However, Patel’s recent performances with the ball has been impressive – picking 8 wickets in 3 T20Is against Australia and 2 wickets in 2 T20Is against South Africa last month. He was rewarded with a spot in the T20 world cup squad for the same and he has also shown glimpses of being a hitter previously in the IPL but if he can deliver with his bat at the grandest stage, remains a question mark.
How does a Left-handed batter provides an upper hand in T20 cricket?
Advantages of having a left-handed Batsman in the starting eleven in all formats of cricket are very well known. The combination of lefty-righty in the middle makes it a bit difficult for the bowlers implement their strategies. Not only does the field changes when the strike is rotated but the bowlers also have to alter their line-length unwillingly.
This provides room for the batters to punish the bowlers just in case the ball lands in the hitting zone. Moreover, having a lefty or two can force the opposition to include an off-spinner for those batsmen but the same bowler can be targeted by other Right-handers.
Strategically, Left-handed batters can also look to clear the shorter fences of the boundary and the righty on the other end can do the same thing too. If we talk about overlooked Indian Left-handers then a name that comes across is Rahul Tewatia. He was one of the key pillars behind Gujarat Titans’ IPL triumph in their debut season.
Tewatia was perhaps the best Indian lefty to play the finisher role as he finished the tournament by scoring 217 runs with a decent strike rate of 147.62. In some occasions, Tewatia single-handedly won games for the Titans’ with his last moment strikes. However, the 29-year-old was not deemed to be enough for selection.
Jadeja’s repertoire could have seen him go higher up the order to steady the ship but Axar Patel plays the role of pinch hitter and he will be given the permission to bat at number 6.
Former India and Mumbai All-rounder Abhishek Nayar shared his thoughts on this issue and he believes that the Indian batting line-up has enough quality to cope up for the absence of a lefty.
It is more about the skillset of the players rather than them being right-handed or left-handed. Most left-handers bow play the switch hit and also play the off-spinners well. Same goes with the right-handed batters, all of them play the left-arm spinner or the leg-spinner well now. I am not a believer in left-right combination; also, your righty or lefty will have to bat well – this is what matters the most in T20 cricket. In a T20, your planning depends upon overs, not batting order”.
Mohammad Shami’s excellent last over helped India defeat Australia in their first warm-up game, but it remains to be seen if the absence of explosive lefties effects the team or not.
Also read – Why the upcoming clash between India vs Pakistan is special in T20 World Cup 2022?
