Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli haven’t played T20 cricket for India since the conclusion of the World Cup last year. And with a bunch of youngsters putting up consistent performances in the IPL 2023, former India head coach Ravi Shastri feels that it’s time that the team management should focus on building for the future.
The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh among others have produced eye-catching performances while rubbing shoulders with some of the top players from around the world in IPL and Shastri thinks they deserve to get the exposure at the international level while Rohit and Kohli can be kept fresh for the longer formats.
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“Players like Rohit, Virat Kohli, they are proven, you know what they are all about. I would go in that (good performers in the IPL) direction so that they get the opportunities, they get the exposure, whilst you keep the Virats and the Rohits fresh for one-day cricket and Test cricket,” Shastri told ESPNCricinfo.
“Your focus there with that kind of experience should move to Test cricket, red-ball cricket for the future World Test Championship, and they stay fresh [so that] there is not too much of cricket where there is an overkill,” he added.
Shastri doesn’t want the selectors to waste time and wait for a year to blood youngsters.
“First T20 series that comes up (West Indies), play these guys (the youngsters), expose these guys. They (the selectors) should start blooding them right now,” Shastri said.
“One year is a long time. Players can be in form, the form can disappear. You will pick the best guys at the time, and then, of course, the experience will count, fitness will count. Who is hot at the moment, who is consistent, who has got the runs and where he has got the runs,” he added.
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He also thinks that the selected players should be allowed to play in the same position in which they have excelled for their franchises.
“It should be the right man for the right job,” Shastri said. “It shouldn’t be a guy who bats at three or four for his franchise, and suddenly you make him bat at six or open the innings when it comes to picking a team for India.”
And he wants variety in the batting order.
“I would like the mix of left-hand-right-hand batting combination. Just like you look for a left-armer with the ball, I would like to see left-handers there. You see this IPL, teams that have done well, look at the mix that they have,” Shastri said.
Hardik Pandya is the de facto captain of India’s T20I team now and Shastri is confident he will replicate the success of Gujarat Titans whom he led to IPL title last season.
“Oh, you will get that right with Hardik. He’ll get that right where he will want his six bowlers including himself and players for the right numbers,” Shastri said. Just seeing the way he has captained Gujarat Titans, you can see there is a player for a number and there is a role which he will take forward to the Indian team,” he said.
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