Former Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri believes that all-rounder Hardik Pandya will not be able to play Test cricket after injury and should focus more on white-ball cricket. Pandya had a stellar captaincy for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Shastri said he should become the white-ball captain after the 2023 ODI World Cup. In an interview, Shastri made it clear that Rohit should continue as captain till the World Cup, but Hardik should take over after the tournament is over.
Shastri said, "I want to say clearly that his body (Hardik) cannot cope with Test cricket. I think he should take over the captaincy in T20 and ODI cricket after the World Cup this year. I should lead India, there is no doubt about it.
Shastri also said that Sanju Samson is yet to realize his potential and added that he would like to see at least two left-handed batsmen in India's top six for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The ODI World Cup tournament will be held in India this year.
Shastri supported the inclusion of Sanju Samson in the ODI team. He said, "About Samson, I believe that he has not realized his potential yet. He is a match-winner. That is something that is missing from Team India.
Shastri said- I will be disappointed if he does not finish his career well. It's like when I was a coach, I would have been disappointed if Rohit Sharma didn't play in my team as a regular Test player. Especially miss his opening batting. I feel the same with Sanju.
Shastri's statement on the tag of chokers given to Team India
The Indian cricket team lost badly to Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final and as a result, the team's ICC trophy drought did not end. After this, many cricket experts also put the tag of 'chokers' on Team India. When Ravi Shastri was asked about this tag, he said that India has made huge achievements in the last few years and no single person can be blamed for the defeat.
"In matches like finals, you need a hundred"
Shastri said- I will never use this word for Team India. I mean, these two teams that were playing (India and Australia) were the only two teams that had a chance to win all three World Cups. It's not that we haven't had big wins in the World Cup. We've been in the semi-finals, we've been in the finals. We couldn't win the WTC final because when you want to win big, you need a combined effort. You can't blame one person, one captain.
Shastri said that India lost in the WTC final because none of its batsmen played big innings. He said- You need a century in the World Cup, World Test Championship final. Your bowlers then have a chance to defend that score and win the trophy. If you don't get a hundred, you need at least three half-centuries, be it Test, T20, or ODI cricket. If you haven't done so, you are not eligible to win.
Team India's next encounter with West Indies
The Indian team will play two Tests, three ODIs, and five T20 matches against the West Indies from July 12. The team has been announced for the Test and ODI series. Rohit will be the captain in both series. At the same time, Ajinkya Rahane has been given the vice-captaincy in Tests and Hardik Pandya in ODIs. Cheteshwar Pujara has been dropped from the team in Tests. At the same time, Samson has returned to the team in ODIs. The team has not been announced for the T20 series.
(pc amarujala)
