Former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir disagreed with former head coach Ravi Shastri’s suggestion to include three left-handed players in the rosters for the Asia Cup and World Cup, stating that players should be chosen based on their performance rather than their hand preference.
For the next Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup, Shastri had already recommended that India think about using three left-handed batsmen in their top seven batting spots to give variation to their lineup.
Speaking to Star Sports on the Selection Day show, Gambhir said: “If he has been picked (Tilak Varma), then of course he should get some matches to play. And if he gets game time and performs better than other batsmen, then you should definitely take him in the squad. Because, as I’ve said earlier, form is important. This debate about who is a left-hander or a right-hander or whether we need three left-handers is a useless debate. We look at quality, we do not look to see how many left-handers are in the squad.”
“If the batsman is good regardless of whether he is a right-hander or a left-hander, we should see how he performs in every condition and against each bowler. If Tilak Varma is in good form, then select him. If Shreyas Iyer or K.L Rahul are in good form, then select them. It’s not a compulsion that you have to keep a left-hander in the squad or that you need to have three left-handers in the lineup. I don’t think we need to even start a debate like this. If we are focusing on left-handers, then what about Yashasvi Jaiswal and other left-handers? But you look at quality, don’t you, not quantity,” he said.
Shreyas Iyer, K.L. Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, and youthful middle-order left-handed batsman Tilak Varma, who received his first ODI call-up, are among the 17 cricketers that India chose for the Asia Cup.
Gambhir shared interesting thoughts on the critical criteria involved in choosing teams for competitions like the Asia Cup and World, and he emphasised that when it comes to putting up a winning squad, variables like form and effect should take precedence over reputations or places.
“There is no front-runner for a position when you are trying to win the World Cup. Form and impact are important. The players who are in form need to be picked, rather than those who are not. Let it be Shreyas Iyer, K.L Rahul, or anybody. If Tilak Varma is in better form than someone, if Suryakumar Yadav is in better form than Shreyas Iyer or K.L Rahul or Ishan Kishan, then you need to start that player. Because the World Cup comes once in four years, you don’t go and see who is a front-runner or not,” he said.
The 41-year-old also said that Iyer and Rahul need to accumulate runs in order to solidify their positions in the World Cup squad; otherwise, players such as Suryakumar and Tilak could potentially replace them.
“Who is in the best form after the Asia Cup and the Australia series, just as Rohit Sharma had said, there is no guarantee for anybody’s position. It’s great to have Shreyas Iyer and K.L Rahul back from injury, but they will need to perform if they want to get in the playing eleven for a match,” Gambhir added.
-IANS
