LISTICLE
Follow UsIndia’s lack of batting depth was exposed when they succumbed to a 2-3 T20 International (T20I) series loss against West Indies recently. Head coach after the series, calling for the need for his side to have someone who can whack a few, especially in the lower order.
"As these games are going on, and scores are becoming bigger and bigger if you look at West Indies, they had Alzarri Joseph coming in at No. 11 and he can hit a mean ball. So you have sides which have that depth. Obviously, we have some challenges on that front and we need to work on that. It's certainly something that this series has shown us and we need to build on that depth,” Dravid said.
So, we have made it easy, looking at possible options that would bolster India's batting depth in the near future.
Shivam Mavi
Shivam Mavi was given a go in six T20 Internationals (T20I) earlier this year and picked up four wickets on his debut against Sri Lanka at Wankhede. However, he managed just three more scalps in the next five games, and we have not seen him play for India since. However, he did step up with the bat once, hitting 26 off 15 in his maiden innings against Sri Lanka, batting at eight and hitting a couple of big sixes along the way.
While his overall T20 strike rate of 94.44 is nothing to boast about, but he did his credentials with the bat in the Deodhar Trophy no harm. He played a couple of cameos lower down the order, including a career-best of 47* (39) for Central Zone against West Zone at eight and a couple of games later, he smashed 38 off 22 that helped his side to a fighting total.
Among batters who batted between 8-11 in the tournament, Mavi scored the most with 97 runs at 48.5 to go with a strike-rate of 136.6. He also struck a boundary every 5.5 deliveries. Regular chances in the IPL could certainly help Mavi become not just a strike bowler but also a handy hitter lower down the ground.
Rajvardhan Hangargekar
2022 Under-19 World Cup winner Rajvardhan Hangargekar has had a few good months. First, his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won their fifth IPL title, and then he followed that up with top performances in the ACC Emerging Nations Cup, where he finished as the second-highest wicket-taker with 10 scalps at 13.40, but in the Deodhar Trophy, he managed just four wickets.
From a batting point of view, he has shown a lot of strength to clear the fence. In the Deodhar Trophy, he scored at a strike-rate of 217.7, hitting a boundary every 3.4 deliveries. While he is yet to play for the senior Indian side, another good season across formats could see him in the reckoning, considering that he has both pace - with the bat and the ball.
Akash Deep
Akash Deep finished as Bengal’s leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy last season as they finished second best to Saurashtra in the final. He did play a couple of matches for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the IPL, with minimum success. But he has shown he is more than capable of playing a few cameos with the bat as well. He scored an 18-ball fifty against Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy in June last year, and in the most recent Deodhar Trophy, Akash came in at No. 9 when his side was in trouble against a resurgent South Zone side. He smashed four sixes and three fours en route to a 26-ball 44 to help his side to a respectable total.
He is known to be a big hitter across formats. In his limited outings with the bat in T20s, he has struck at 133, while in the other two formats, it is 129.29 (List A) and 81.34 (first-class), further establishing himself as someone who can use the long handle to good effect. Considering that his bowling average too is well under 23, there is a strong chance that he could make the ladder soon.
Harshit Rana
In his 24 competitive games so far, Delhi fast bowler Harshit Rana has made a superb start. In his only Ranji Trophy season, he not just picked up 28 wickets at 26.35, but with the bat, he struck two 50-plus scores, including a best of 122* against North East Zone in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final.
He started off the Emerging Nations Cup well, picking up four wickets against UAE A in the first game, but managed just three more in the tournament but did not get an opportunity to bat. He had a decent outing in the Deodhar Trophy, too, picking up five wickets, and managed to strike a couple of boundaries in the 18 balls he faced in the tournament.
R Sai Kishore
The only spinner on the list, R Sai Kishore’s batting abilities have been trusted by his Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) franchise IDream Tiruppur Tamizhans, where he batted at three, scoring 122 runs at a strike rate of 167.1 to go with his seven wickets at an economy rate of 6.8. Not just that, the left-hander also notched up a 23-ball 50, scoring the fastest 50 in the 2023 TNPL.
He may not be a big hitter like the others on the list, and that is perhaps an area he would like to improve, but there’s no question that he can certainly chip in with some handy runs down the order. He scored an unbeaten 19-ball 24 in the Deodhar Trophy final, but he did a commendable job with the ball, picking up 11 wickets at an economy rate of 3.8. Moreover, he did not go wicketless in any of the games.
While India have plenty of options when it comes to spinners who can bat – like Shams Mulani, Tanush Kotian, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar and others, finding lower-order batters who can bowl seam is considerably less. India have someone like Shardul Thakur up their sleeves but need to dig deeper to find someone of his skill set, and this could just be the start.
