Chopra questions India's Tilak-for-Kishan swap despite Christchurch win
India took a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on October 22. They chased down 226 with two balls to spare, their highest successful chase in the format. Even so, a late-order scare led to a debate about one batting-order decision.
Aakash Chopra said he could not see the logic in sending Tilak Varma to No.3 when the opening stand ended. His argument was simple. Ishan Kishan is the top-ranked T20I batter in the world and the regular occupant of that slot. Tilak, Chopra noted, had also grown into a different role in the side. In his view, once India made that one tweak, neither batter delivered.
The match unfolded in two very different halves. New Zealand, put in to bat, made 225 for 4, with Glenn Phillips unbeaten on 82 and Finn Allen adding 45. India's reply started far more quickly than the home side's innings had. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma put on 93 in the powerplay, and the fourth over alone went for 26 runs.
Samson reached fifty in 23 balls. Abhishek hit 29 off 12 before Michael Bracewell had him caught at short third. At that point India looked well ahead of the asking rate. Kishan, the usual No.3, stayed in the dugout and Tilak walked in.
Tilak could not keep up the tempo. He made 6 off 11 balls without a boundary, and those dot balls let New Zealand back into the contest. Samson fell to Mitchell Santner in the ninth over for 67 off 33 balls, with eight fours and four sixes. India were 115 for 2 at that stage. Three wickets then fell for just seven runs. Kishan, who was held back to No.5, was out for one off three balls.
That left captain Shreyas Iyer to rebuild with Naman Dhir. Iyer made 42 and put on 43 with Dhir before a cutter from Adam Milne removed him in the 19th over. India needed 16 off 11 balls at that point. Axar Patel also played a useful hand in the middle phase. Dhir then finished it, hitting an unbeaten 42 off 15 balls with five fours and two sixes. His top-edged hook for six with two needed from three balls sealed the win. New Zealand's bowlers helped by sending down long-hops and full-tosses in the closing overs, and the dew did not help them either.
Samson was named Player of the Match. His form since the West Indies series has continued, and he has now handed India a flying start in back-to-back series.
The batting-order question is the bigger long-term point for India. Their top three of Samson, Abhishek and Kishan had been a settled and productive unit. Chopra also pointed out that Samson and Abhishek have been excellent when they open together. Moving a specialist out of his role mid-chase carries risk, particularly when the new arrival is a batter who has been working on a different position. Left-handers Tilak and Kishan are equally suited to follow a left-hand opener's dismissal, so handedness did not explain the change.
It is also worth remembering that India are chasing 226 on a pitch that got flatter in the second innings, with dew arriving. In those conditions the margin for error is thin, and a slow patch at No.3 is costly. India got away with it because Iyer and Dhir stayed calm.
For the remaining four matches, expect the team management to be asked whether this was a one-off experiment or a sign of a new plan. Vaibhav Suryavanshi is also still waiting for a game in the squad, which adds to the crowded top-order picture. Whatever India decide, the first game showed their batting depth is real, and so is the cost of tinkering with a combination that was working.