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Dinesh Karthik, who is currently a part of the commentary panel on Sky Sports, believes that Ben Stokes should bat at No. 3. The veteran batsman has suggested a couple of changes in England’s batting order ahead of the 5th T20I. The visitors fell eight runs short of India’s total in the 4th and penultimate T20I in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The ongoing series is now locked at 2-2, with the decider slated for Saturday. A target of 186 actually looked achievable when Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow were batting in their typical gung-ho fashion. However, the 65-run partnership was broken as the Indian bowlers brought their side storming back in the game to clinch a close victory.
Dawid Malan should be dropped for the series decider: Dinesh Karthik
According to Karthik, top-ranked T20I batsman Dawid Malan should be dropped for the series decider. The visitors could then consider a promotion for all-rounder Ben Stokes at No.3. Considering Dawid Malan can also bat at No.6, Karthik suggested that he would rather have wicketkeeper-batsman Sam Billings at that spot.
On the other hand, veteran England skipper Nasser Hussain has weighed in on England’s middle-order problem with three left-handed batters coming in one after the other. The veteran believes that is the root cause of England’s middle-order woes. The three left-handed batsmen are Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, and Eoin Morgan.
Dawid Malan is presently the No. 1 T20I batsman amassing 935 runs in 33 T20Is. His strike rate of 144.07 is incredible, but he hasn’t fired in this T20I series so far. The 33-year-old has managed to score only 80 runs in 4 T20Is averaging 26.67 and a strike rate of 103.9. On the other end, Sam Billings has featured in 30 T20Is scoring 391 runs. Sam Billings, who had opted out of IPL 2020, set his base price at INR 2 crores. The wicket-keeper batsman was sold to Delhi Capitals for his base price.
Sam Billings was part of Chennai Super Kings’ 2018 title-winning campaign and had also played ten games in that edition for them. The English player is not only an explosive striker of the ball but can also keep wickets. The 29-year old has so far played 22 IPL matches, amassing 334 runs.