Gautam Gambhir bats for a new Indian team led Hardik Pandya in the 20-20 format
Gautam Gambhir feels that there is no harm dropping Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from the 20-20 format.
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Dec 30, 2022 7:28 pm
Gautam Gambhir: (Image Source: Twitter)
Former Indian cricketer, Gautam Gambhir feels that there is no harm if the selectors want to look beyond senior players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul and prepare a new team ahead of the 20-20 World Cup in 2024.
The Indian Cricket Board, recently, announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 series against Sri Lanka, and the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul weren’t part of the squad.
In an interaction with ESPN Cricinfo, Gambhir stated that the selectors must communicate with senior players if they don’t want them to be part of the T20 set-up going further and expressed confidence in opting for a new team in the shortest format.
“There should be clarity. There should be good communication between the selectors and these players. If the selectors have decided to look beyond these guys, so be it. I think a lot of countries have done that,” said Gambhir without mincing words.
“We make too much of a hue and cry when the selectors and management look beyond certain individuals. Ultimately, it’s not about the individuals, but how you want to go about your plans for the next [T20] World Cup [in 2024], because you want to go in there and win it. If these guys haven’t been able to achieve that, I think you never know. People like Suryakumar, the younger generation can go on to achieve that dream,” he added.
India suffered a lot of criticism after they were beaten by 10 wickets against England in the semi-final match of the 20-20 World Cup 2022. Gautam Gambhir expressed confidence in adding the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Prithvi Shaw, and Sanju Samson to the T20 side led by Hardik Pandya going ahead.
“Personally, if you ask me, it looks tough. People like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan should all be in the mix. Hardik Pandya is there, I’d like to try to get guys like Prithvi Shaw, Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson into the mix. They can play fearless cricket,” said Gambhir.
“We’ve spoken so much about the template and stuff going into the previous [T20] World Cup, that we want to play at a certain template, that we want to play aggressive cricket, but when it came to a crunch game [semi-final against England], all that template went out of the window,” he complained.
