ICC World Cup 2023: "About Time India Know Their 15 Players For World Cup"- Salman Butt
Published - 04 Aug 2023, 09:19 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:16 AM
Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt has shared his thoughts after India’s loss against West Indies in the first T20I in Trinidad. India fell short by four runs trying to chase down 150 to win.
India grasped the game from a situation where they needed 37 runs off the last 30 balls. Wickets of Hardik Pandya and Sanju Samson in the 16th over proved to be the turning point in India’s chase.
Analysing India’s loss, Salman Butt spoke about senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being rested in the ODI series. Both the players were rested from the last two games as India won the series 2-1. Butt said that the BCCI would have been better off had they sent an A-team for the tour.
“If it was about resting the senior players, or trying different combinations, you should have sent India ‘A’ team. In that case, all the main players would have got time to rest after the Test series. When you have Ravindra Jadeja and a few other experienced batters, you cannot call this an inexperienced team” said the former Pakistan skipper.
He then spoke about India’s possible squad for the ODI World Cup. Butt said that by now India should have identified their 15 players for the tournament. He also spoke about the frequent changes in squads for every other series.
India Should Stop Making Frequent Changes To The Team: Salman Butt
“If you were to analyse the game as an expert, it seemed as if they don’t care about the results. The other thing is that they were traditionally very good players of spin bowling. However, that control against spinners has been missing. Also, making frequent changes to the team for every tour should stop. It is about time that India knew who their 15 players were for the World Cup” Butt highlighted.
Butt further went on to say that the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane should be recalled into the ODI side for the upcoming World Cup at home.
“Ajinkya Rahane is an option, considering how impressive he was at the IPL and how he made his comeback into the Test team. Also, I feel that they will need Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order. I don’t see any of their top order left-handed batters who are better than him” Butt said.
“Either Shikhar Dhawan bats with Shubman Gill as the opener, and Rohit Sharma comes at No. 3, or Gill can come down and Rohit can open. They will need experience in big games. They also need an experienced batter at No. 6. It could be Ajinkya Rahane or KL Rahul” he concluded saying.
India’s Asia Cup squad might give a fair indication about the players who are likely to be selected for the World Cup as well. Right now the management is worried about a few players and their injury concerns heading into these tournaments.