It borders on an embarrassment of riches — or perhaps a gaudy display of elitist supremacy — when a team has its captain, a specialist batter many regard as the finest in the format, walking out at number 11. Yes, you read that right. Eleven.
That was Suryakumar Yadav’s position in India’s clash against Oman on 19 September in the Asia Cup. Yet, it would be unfair to accuse India of ostentation. This was, after all, an academic fixture in the larger scheme of the tournament. More than the margin of victory — 21 runs — India will take satisfaction in the fact that every batter had a chance under the lights before normal service resumes on 21 September.
The 'OG' Opening Pair Deliver, But Contrastingly
The first wise call came at the toss. Choosing to bat first in Abu Dhabi made sense, for this was never going to be a surface that yielded outlandish records — even in a lopsided contest like India versus Oman. Still, to dismiss Shubman Gill’s struggles as mere circumstance would be disingenuous.
Made the vice-captain of the T20I team after what was a brilliant Test captaincy debut in England, Gill was dismissed for 5. This is on the back of an unassuming 10 against Pakistan, and he now has only a couple of fifty-plus scores in his last 14 T20I innings.
Hardik Pandya cannot be faulted for his runout at the non-striker’s end, but his misfortune can. Barring the pair, Shivam Dube is the only batter who could not get a move on, mirroring Gill’s score.
Axar Patel and Tilak Varma had cameos, but the two batters who shone the brightest happened to be the pair who were opening the innings for India in this format, prior to Gill’s promotion — Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson.
The knocks were, however, contrasting. Sharma, the number one ranked batter in men’s T20I cricket, was explosive, as he always is, in his 15-ball 38. There was conjecture aplenty regarding Sanju Samson’s batting position, but sent at number three in this match — a position he will be asked to swiftly vacate before the next match — he scored a 45-ball 56.
Only 4 Wickets Not Good For Optics
India’s bowling resources were without two prized jewels in Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy. Accordingly, they may not have expected a repeat of the demolition job against the UAE, when they rolled their opponents for 57. Even so, conceding 167 runs against Oman did little good to optics. That too, with only four wickets to show for.
Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh — the two bowlers who were included in the playing XI — bowled a combined seven overs to concede 62 runs, with two wickets between the pair of them.
Albeit, much like with their batting, Gautam Gambhir’s team went out of their way to provide an opportunity to nearly every player in blue with the ball, with captain Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, and Sanju Samson being the only Indian cricketers who did not roll their arms over. Notably, two of those three players have never bowled in T20I cricket, so that record remains intact.
Oman Highlights Sport's Unique Paradox
Such is the paradox of sport that the winner is not always the happier side. Oman might afford to sport a bigger, brighter smile than their opponents, for pushing much above their weights.
Jatinder Singh’s men entered the tournament with a depleted squad, the fallout of a very public rift between the board and several of the country’s most celebrated players — including Bilal Khan — over the distribution of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup prize money.
A 43-year-old Aamir Kaleem and a 27-year-old Hammad Mirza were not a part of the squad that helped Oman qualify for this competition, and had there been no dispute, they might not have batted in this contest. But bat they did, and they did so with enough conviction and craft and construct a 93-run stand, where Kaleem scored 64 and Mirza accumulated 51.
Oman's captain Jatinder Singh, who scored a cautious 32 to set things in motion, credited his players for their valiant effort.
I am extremely proud of the unit, the way they came up and executed the plans. Very proud of how they showed their character in crunch situations. The hype of the tournament was somewhere in the mind. As I've mentioned before, we lack experience and exposure. We have the World Cup Qualifiers in Oman, the boys are ready for it.Jatinder Singh, captain of Oman
Oman Earn Praise From Suryakumar Yadav
Not that he had many competitors for the honour, but Sanju Samson was rightfully adjudged to be the player of the match. As it turned out, India might have been in a spot of bother, had it not been for his half-century.
It's good to see that I got to spend some time in the middle. They bowled really well. We have to give credit to Oman. They bowled well in the powerplay also, they were swinging it upfront. I keep backing my strength to stay positive. Any contribution with the bat for your country, you have to take the positives.Sanju Samson
Oman's effort also earned praise from the Indian captain, who had also expected them to be stubborn owing to nature of their deputy head coach, Sulakshan Kulkarni, who, like Yadav, also hails from Mumbai.
Oman played an unbelievable brand of cricket. Knowing their coach Sulu sir (Sulakshan Kulkarni), I knew there will be khadoosness. It was amazing, I really enjoyed watching them bat. It is a little difficult when you are siting and don't get an opportunity.Suryakumar Yadav
India's Super Four campaign will commence with a match against Pakistan on 21 September.