WHEN Indian team management decided to field Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the Asian Games semifinal against Sri Lanka on Thursday, one of the ripple effects of the move was every batter, except captain Shreyas Iyer at No. 4, going one position down. Sanju Samson going down to No 3, Ishan Kishan moving to No 5, so on and so forth.
As a result, the designated vice-captain, Tilak Varma, was pushed further down the order — a position that is not familiar to a top-order batter. The Hyderabad batter has often been moved up and down the order though he is usually regarded as someone who bats in the top four.
But as seen during the T20 World Cup earlier this year, Tilak has been flexible enough to be a floater and walk in based on match ups. During the Asian Games semifinal, Tilak was pushed even further down below the likes of Axar Patel. While India need much from him on the particular day, questions were to be asked over whether it is a productive move in the longer run. Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar feels it is. He believes batting in the middle-order (No 5-7) suits Tilak and he could adapt to the needs of a finishing role in the T20 format.
"To be honest, whenever I've seen Tilak bat at the top of the order, he needs a little time to get going — he's not someone who starts striking immediately. I really like him down at No 5 and 6," he said in an interaction facilitated by Sony Sports Network. "I have seen him finish games in the IPL and in the Asia Cup in Dubai. I like him at No. 5-6. It was a bit unfair in the last game that Axar Patel and Shivam Dube were sent ahead of him, but I like him batting where he feeds off the pressure felt by the opposition bowling side near the end of the innings. He has the big game and has played impressive, not out knocks of 25–30. In this balance, I'm very happy seeing Tilak Varma down the order; that number suits him," he added.
Ahead of the all-important gold medal clash against Pakistan, the Mumbaikar expects the teen prodigy Sooryavanshi to continue his aggressive approach and come good on Saturday. He felt that there was good signs in the brief stay of Vaibhav during the semifinal. "Temperamentally, he is pretty good for the big stage. What oppositions tend to do against him is bring spin on very quickly. In the last game, I saw good signs where he waited on the back foot and cut an off-spinner for four, though he got out later trying to charge down and hit on the up. Those are small things he could avoid, but he shouldn't change his overall approach. Who is going to ask him to change? He has a decent ball sense and isn't just a flat-pitch slogger.
"There are areas every young player wants to improve on, but he will bat the way he has, and that's the danger he brings. He's a dangerous opposition player who won't just hit two fours and two sixes and then take a single for the sake of it; he'll try to hit one more. With his backswing and ball sense, it generally comes off. Pakistan would be worried about having someone like Vaibhav in the lineup. I'm excited to see how he goes and won't judge him regardless of what happens in the final," explained Manjrekar.
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