Rinku Singh's batting slot and his circumspect approach must be a cause of concern for the Indian team going into the deciding fourth T20I against South Africa in Johannesburg, on Friday.
Centuries by Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma on either side of an inept batting performance has kept India's nose ahead in the series and the team would expect a collective batting effort if they have to claim the series.
The Wanderers 'Bull Ring' has always been a happy hunting ground for India, where they won the 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan.
Even during the previous T20I series last year, skipper Suryakumar Yadav's last international hundred till date came at this very stadium and that too in a winning cause.
The Indian captain, who enjoys a staggering victory percentage of 81.25, having come up trumps in 13 out of the 16 matches, would like to do one better compared to the last series in the Rainbow Nation which had ended in a 1-1 draw with one game being washed out.
Rinku, one of the finest exponents of T20 cricket has suddenly gone off the boil in the past few months, reasons of which aren't exactly clear and it wouldn't be lost on the skipper and interim head coach VVS Laxman.
On the face of it, it seems that his batting position and his use as a floater at number six and seven isn't helping the Aligarh man's cause.
The next T20 World Cup in India is still some distance away in 2026 and Surya, as a skipper, has enough time to dissect and put things back on track for the man, who is too precious to be lost due to lack of clarity.
In the current series, Rinku came in at number six in two games and number seven in another and has managed just 28 runs.
The scores 11, 9 and 8 shouldn't be taken in isolation looking at where he is coming in to bat but when the number of balls (34) he has taken to the score runs is taken into consideration, it becomes worrisome.
Even during the last IPL Rinku got to play a total of 113 balls in 15 games for KKR: roughly 7.5 deliveries per game.
Being seen strictly as a specialist "finisher" Rinku, on an average, would get to face 10 balls in an innings. This strategy would have been devised to help the India team but of late it has eroded some of southpaw's confidence as he seems to be caught between attacking and playing second fiddle.
Most of Rinku's better efforts have come when he has batted at number five but in a line-up where Sanju Samson is settling as an opener and Tilak Varma has staked claim as a No. 3, it might be difficult for Rinku to be promoted ahead of Hardik Pandya.
It is an issue that the team think-tank would do better to solve at earliest.
India have used 12 out of their 15 players in the first three games and it would be interesting to see if one among the two uncapped pacers Yash Dayal or Vysakh Vijaykumar gets a debut cap in case the pitch warrants an extra specialist speedster.
For Samson, he would like to forget that he is turning into Marco Jansen's 'bunny' after back-to-back failures.
In the final game, it wouldn't be a bad option for skipper Surya to check on Ramandeep Singh's steady medium pace as he can be an asset with multiple skills, including ability to field at all positions save keeping.
Squads:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Hardik Pandya. Axar Patel, Ramandeep Singh. Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal.
South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottneil Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen. Heinrich Klaasen, Patrick Kruger. Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Mihlali Mpongwana, Nqaba Peter, Ryan Rickelton. Andile Simelane. Lutho Sipamla, Tristan Stubbs.
Match Starts: 8:30 pm.
