Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has predicted that India will have a new team after the upcoming T20 World Cup. India has experimented a lot in recent times and a lot of young Indian players are rising through the ranks.
With the 2023 ODI World Cup to be played in India next year, Shastri expects the big boys like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to take a backseat in the shortest format of the game.
India has always had a hectic schedule in International cricket and it has not been easy for the think tank to manage the workload of the players, who are playing in all three formats of the game.
Speaking at an interaction at the Mumbai Press Club on Wednesday, Shastri said: “Come what may, I see India having a new team after this World Cup, much like the team which went in 2007—there was no Tendulkar, Dravid, and Ganguly. Dhoni took the side out and won the tournament. The same thing can happen. It is not that they are not good enough, but you want them for the other two formats, there is a World Cup coming next year, so you don’t want to burden those players.”
Shastri believes India will need to pull up the socks on their fielding if they are to go all the way in the T20 World Cup. India’s best fielder Ravindra Jadeja is already out of the marquee event due to a knee injury.
“One area that India will have to pick up and start right from the beginning is fielding. They need to work hard and get their A-game on the field when they step out against Pakistan,” Shastri said.
Shastri believes that 15-20 runs that a team saves in the field make a huge difference in winning.
“Those 15-20 runs that you save can make all the difference because otherwise every time you get out to bat, you need to get 15-20 runs extra. For sides like Australia, England, and South Africa field like crazy. Look at what Sri Lanka did in the Asia Cup with fielding. They won a tight game against Pakistan riding on fielding.”
India hasn’t been at their best with the ball either, allowing the opposition to score more than 200 runs consistently in recent times. But Shastri feels poor fielding has also played a part in this.
He said, “The emphasis on fitness becomes very critical. In my time we had the Yo-Yo test. A lot of people laughed at it. The test was never for selection, it was for creating awareness among the players. It made a massive difference, not just in the way they played, but the way they moved on the field. What is worrying (now) is the number of times you have allowed the opposition to score over 200 runs in the last few months. People will blame the bowling, but it is also the fielding.”
India will take on Pakistan in their opening match of the T20 World Cup at MCG on 23rd October.
