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India is known to be one of the strongest cricketing nations in the world. Despite dominating most bilateral series and ICC trophies India have not found a solution to their ever debated middle order problem. Most of the time, at least one of the top-order batsmen score big for India. But when the top order fails or does not score big, the upper middle-order batsmen haven't performed up to the mark.
The next ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled to begin in mid-October 2020 and it is high time for India to invest in reliable middle-order players and find the perfect team balance.
Here are a few players that the team management can try out.
Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav is an attacking right-handed batsman. He has been consistently scoring runs for Mumbai in the domestic cricket and currently represents Mumbai Indians in the IPL. He is an innovative batsman capable of unorthodoxy to unsettle the bowler.
Yadav was first picked in the IPL by Mumbai Indians in the year 2011 and was bought by KKR in the 2014 IPL auction. He played several cameos for KKR batting at lower middle-order. Considering his consistent performance he was moved to bat at number 4. He batted extremely well at number 4 and repaid the faith shown on him. In 2018 IPL auction Mumbai Indians were successful in bringing their local lad back. He had a terrific IPL season and ended up scoring 512 runs in 14 innings. In 2019 Suryakumar was asked to open the innings alongside Quinton De Kock and scored 424 runs in 15 innings.
India lacks a reliable and innovative player in the upper-middle order. Suryakumar Yadav has loads of experience playing in crunch situations and can be used as a floater. He maintains a healthy strike-rate and can emerge as a good finisher for the Indian team. He is a part-time spinner too and can serve as a back-up opener for the Indian team if necessary.
Nitish Rana
An aggressive left-handed batsman and a part-time off-spinner. Nitish Rana was the top scorer for Delhi in his debut Ranji Trophy season. Rana is one of the most reliable batsmen for Delhi. One of his best performances was against Andhra Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, where he rescued his team from a difficult situation. He came in to bat when Delhi had lost four quick wickets and he took his team to a mammoth total of 236 in 20 overs by scoring 97 runs from 40 balls, which included 8 sixes and 8 fours.
Rana earned an IPL contract with Mumbai Indians in 2015. He regularly featured in the playing 11 in 2017 season and managed to score 333 runs in 13 innings. After his promising performance in 2017, he was picked by KKR in the following season for ₹3.40 crores. Rana has emerged as a good middle-order batsman for KKR.
Having left-handed batsmen in the batting line-up is an additional benefit. Apart from Rishabh Pant, India does not have powerful left-handed middle-order batsmen. Rana is a powerful cricketer and can turn the match within a few overs. Rana is also a handy part-time bowler. India lacks a good batting all-rounder and Rana can be that player. Rana has all the potential to be India's number 4 in T20s.
Shivam Dube
Shivam Dube is an all-rounder who plays for Mumbai in domestic cricket. He is a tall left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler. He took a five-wicket haul for Mumbai in his first Ranji Trophy match and was also the leading wicket-taker for Mumbai in that season with 23 wickets to his name. Dube has looked impressive in his short first-class carrier. He has played quite a few match-saving innings for Mumbai.
He is a massive striker of the cricket ball and has earned the big hitter tag in domestic cricket. Shivam Dube came into the limelight by scoring five 6's in an over in Mumbai T20 League. Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar praised Dube for his six-hitting ability. A day before the IPL auction 2019, Dube once again scored five sixes in an over against Baroda in the Ranji Trophy. As expected, there was a fierce bidding war in the IPL auction 2019 and finally, RCB was successful in acquiring his services for a whopping ₹5 crores. Though he couldn't impress with the limited opportunities he got, he showe glimpses of his ability by scoring a six against veteran Lasith Malinga in a pressure situation. Shivam Dube has also done well for India A both with bat and ball.
When compared to other top teams India lacks in fast bowling all-rounders. India needs another player like Hardik Pandya. All-rounders are always an asset to the team. Shivam Dube can fill the void of fast bowling all-rounder along with Hardik or can serve as a back-up for Hardik.
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