India white-ball skipper Rohit Sharma on Saturday said that playing spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav together is certainly on his mind and he will look into it in the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies. Team India is set to play three ODIs at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad from February 6 followed by the T20I series at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata from February 16. Rohit was supposed to lead the side in the ODIs against South Africa, but a hamstring issue ruled him out. However, he has regained his fitness and is ready to lead the team.
“Kuldeep and Chahal have been great performers for us in the past and they have created an impact in those years whenever they have played together, in the middle they were left out because of the combination we wanted to get. It is certainly on my mind to get them back together, Kuldeep especially,” said Rohit while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.
“We want to get Kuldeep in slowly, we do not want him to be rushed. It is important to give him some time to come into his own groove, we do not want to put him in a situation where we are asking too much from him also. I think for us, it is important that we handle the situation carefully. Both these players are important. Chahal played in South Africa and Kuldeep has just gotten back into the squad. Kuldeep needs to play a lot of games to get his rhythm back and we understand that,” he added.
Rohit also confirmed that Mayank Agarwal has not completed his quarantine period so Ishan Kishan will open the innings with him in the first ODI.
“With COVID it is uncertain with what is going to happen. At the moment, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, and Shikhar Dhawan are in isolation. They are doing well. In the first ODI, Ishan Kishan would open with me, he is the only option as Mayank was added to the squad, he is in isolation as he came a bit late into the squad. He has not finished his quarantine so Ishan will open the innings unless there is an injury,” said Rohit.
When India take the field on Sunday, they will become the first international team to play 1,000 ODIs. Currently, at 999 matches, India have 518 wins and 431 losses.
“There is not a lot that we need to change, we just need to adapt to different situations of the game. We have played good ODI cricket over the course of the past few years, one series loss is not the reason for us to panic. South Africa series was a great learning curve for us in terms of we did not do collectively as a team,” said Rohit.
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“It is always important that everyone comes together. Going forward, the role clarity of certain individuals is important in the squad. If we can talk to the individuals about it, then we can get what we want at a different points from different individuals,” he added.
India ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mayank Agarwal, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (available for 2nd ODI), Rishabh Pant, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan.
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