India will have to play 3-4 matches to know if aggressive batting suits them: Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar has said the Indian team will need a few matches to figure out if an ultra-aggressive batting approach is suited to them.

Virat Kohli had proclaimed Team India would take a leaf out of the England team's book and adopt a buccaneering approach during the T20I series against the visitors. However, that tactic seems to have backfired in the first T20I as the hosts lost a plethora of early wickets to be put on the back foot.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Sanjay Bangar pointed out the Indian team will have to wait a while before knowing the efficacy of the tactic.

"There were talks in the pre-match interview that they want to take the aggressive approach and increase the depth of batting. If you want to play aggressively from the first ball, then you will come to know if this tactic is suiting the team once you play 3-4 matches like that. If it doesn't suit them, they should come back to the winning formula," said Bangar.

The former Indian cricketer highlighted Axar Patel and Washington Sundar were both included in the playing XI just to increase the batting depth.

"Yuzevndra Chahal will play in all matches but Axar Patel and Washington Sundar were played because they have the ability to bat. This is where I feel India will have to think. Yes, if they want to play with this thinking, they will have to play continuously with this team," observed Sanjay Bangar.

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"Shreyas Iyer's batting was definitely a positive for India" - Sanjay Bangar

Sanjay Bangar lauded Shreyas Iyer for holding the innings together

While reflecting on the Indian dismissals, Sanjay Bangar criticized Shikhar Dhawan's shot selection while adding that Rishabh Pant was a trifle unlucky. He added Shreyas Iyer was the only saving grace in Indian batting.

"There was some lack of footwork from KL Rahul. Virat Kohli wanted to go over the off-side because there was no fielder in the deep. Shikhar Dhawan played a slightly irresponsible shot because two wickets had already fallen. Rishabh Pant was a little unlucky because it was a well-timed shot which went straight to be fielder. Shreyas Iyer's batting was definitely a positive for India," said Sanjay Bangar.

Well played Shreyas Iyer! 👏Came into bat when his side were in trouble at 20/3 and scored a brilliant 67 off 48 balls and helped 🇮🇳 post a respectable total of 124 on the board 👏Surely justified his selection in the side with a wonderful knock under pressure 💪#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/6GyRfzwXvM

— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) March 12, 2021

The 48-year-old signed off by stating that the Indian batsmen will have to devise a strategy to counter England's short and aggressive bowling tactics before the next encounter.

"They will have to think about how England bowled. The England pacers will bowl in the same fashion, bowl around 140kph and will not give width and use the short ball well. The side boundaries are big here. So that tactical awareness will have to be kept and rework will have to be done to prepare for the next match," concluded Sanjay Bangar.

Short-pitched stuff. Loads of it. At high pace. That’s been the recipe of England’s success today. #IndvEng

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 12, 2021

The Indian team was put behind the eight ball when they lost their first three wickets with just 20 runs on the board. It will be interesting to see if Virat Kohli and company continue this all-attacking approach in the second match or resort to a more conservative approach at the start of their innings.