Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have failed to deliver on a regular basis throughout IPL 2023. Ravi Shastri, on the other hand, believes that they should be saved for one-day internationals and tests, in addition to providing his opinion on the emerging breed of Indian Twenty20 Internationals.
Virat Kohli, a former captain of the Indian cricket team, has had an average performance so far in this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). On the other hand, the current captain of the Test and One-Day International (ODI), Rohit Sharma, has led the Mumbai Indians (MI) to a performance that is below average. MI is a five-time record champion team.
In the meantime, the younger generation of Indian players has been performing exceptionally well in the game. Ravi Shastri, a former head coach for the Indian cricket team, is of the opinion that Kohli and Rohit should only play in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and Tests, while the new players who excel in the Indian Premier League (IPL) should earn their way into the Twenty20 International (T20I) side.
In a conversation with ESPN Cricinfo, Shastri said, “Players like Rohit and Virat Kohli are tested, and you already know what they’re all about.” I would go in that path [of kids faring well in the IPL] so that they can receive the opportunities and exposure while you keep the Virats and the Rohits fresh for one-day cricket and test cricket.
“Your focus there 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 cricket where there is an overkill,” continued Shastri. “Your focus there with that kind of experience should move to Test cricket, red-ball cricket.” He had nothing but kind words to say about players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jitesh Sharma, Tilak Verma, and Rinku Singh, all of whom had performed admirably in IPL 2023.
Play these kids [the younger players] in the first Twenty20 series that’s coming up [in the West Indies] to expose these individuals. They (the selectors) should get started testing them as soon as possible. A year is a very long period of time. Players have the ability to get in shape. It is possible for the form to vanish. You will choose the most talented men available at the time, and then experience and physical preparedness will come into play. Shastri elucidated, “Who is hot at the moment, who is consistent, who has got the runs, and where he has got the runs.”
Shastri went on to explain why it is detrimental to the team’s performance to bat a top-order player in the middle order. “The proper person ought to be chosen for the right position. When selecting a team for India, you shouldn’t pick a player who bats third or fourth for his franchise and then force him to start the game at number six or open the scoring. I’m looking for a blend of both left-handed and right-handed hitters. As you search for a left-handed player holding the ball, I want to see left-handed players. You can see in this IPL that teams that have been successful have a good combination of players, as Shastri explained.
At the end of the day, Shastri decided to put his belief in all-rounder Hardik Pandya to lead India in the Twenty20 Internationals, and he said, “Oh, you will get that right with Hardik.” He’ll get that precisely where he wants his six bowlers, including himself and the players, for the appropriate numbers, which he’ll get right the first time. You can see a player for a number and a role that he will take forward to the Indian squad only by looking at how he has captained Gujarat Titans.