IND vs AFG 1st T20I | 'I think Shreyas should not change his number at the moment...': Vivek Razdan

Shreyas Iyer (Pic: File Pic)

Team India is set to lock horns with Afghanistan in the three-match T20I series. The first clash is scheduled to be played on September 13 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.

Ahead of the first match, former cricketer Vivek Razdan has backed Team India's T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer to bat at number four position.

"I think Shreyas should not change his number at the moment. He should remain at number 4. Because for the top 3, you already have four names. You have Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and Ishaan Kishan, but all three are left-handers. You already have many left-handers in your team. One should be included in the playing XI just because he is a right-hander - no! I do not agree with that at all," he said.

"Who is that batsman? How has his performance been? This is very important. So, if I do not have a right-hander who has performed like this, then I will say you can play seven left-handers. Performance is the key. It is never a problem that you play with your left hand or right hand," added Razdan.

The former cricketer then feels that wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson should open the innings for the "Men in Blue", considering his recent performances in the shortest format of the game.

"You have a player who, just a few months ago, made more than 300 runs with a strike rate of 200 and won us the World Cup. So, he is a very good player," said Razdan.

"As a captain, sometimes you think about that left-right combination in batting. If all the left-handers play, it will be easy for their opponent to play the game holding the same line. Now, every player has his own importance, his own speciality, his own strength. So, I feel that while going to the first match, you should still play with Sanju Samson," added the 57-year-old former cricketer.

IND vs AFG T20Is: Full squads

India: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Tilak Varma (VC), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy', Axar Patel, Washington Sundar', Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah', Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana'.

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ibrahim Zadran (C), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Darwish Rasooli, Nangeyalia Kharote, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Sediqullah Atal, Noor Ahmad, Noor ul Rahman (WK), Abdullah Ahmadzai.

(With ANI Inputs)