With the next T20 World Cup two years away, many senior players in the Indian team are expected to be eased out of the shortest format of the game. Ahead of the series against New Zealand starting today, former India head coach Ravi Shastri backed the idea of building a young team for the showpiece event in the USA and West Indies. “Identify youngsters who are T20 specialists and can play fearless cricket without any baggage. Make this Indian team a terrific fielding side,” said Shastri at a media interaction organised by Amazon Prime Video, which will broadcast the series in India.
‘Too much cricket’
Shastri, 60, also agreed with the idea of having a different T20I captain in order to manage the workload. “The volume of cricket is too much at the moment. If Rohit [Sharma] is already leading in ODIs and Test matches, there’s no harm in identifying a new T20 captain. If his name is Hardik Pandya, so be it,” he added.
Ravi Shastri and Zaheer Khan
After India’s failure at the recently-concluded T20 World Cup, there has been talk of allowing Indians to participate in overseas leagues to gain more exposure. Ex-India pacer Zaheer Khan, who was also present at the interaction, didn’t agree with such an idea. Shastri also concurred with Zaheer. “There is no reason for players to go and play in a particular tournament [outside of India]. When you have a robust domestic structure, why depend on others,” Zaheer asked.
“They are absolutely fine playing the IPL and there are the India ‘A’ tours as well. We need them to play domestic cricket in India,” Shastri added.
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Talented Umran
Zaheer, 44, highlighted the importance of having someone like Umran Malik in the side. “The variety in your pace attack is a must and you need someone like Umran who can be an out-and-out pace bowler. The exposure at this level is definitely going to help him,” said Zaheer.
Along with the senior players, the Rahul Dravid-led support staff has also been rested for this tour. Shastri wasn’t particularly pleased with breaks for the coaching staff. “I don’t believe in breaks because I want to understand and be in control of my team throughout. You get your two-three months of the IPL. That is enough rest for you as a coach,” Shastri concluded.
