Delhi Capitals (DC) Director of Cricket and former BCCI president Sourav Ganguly opened up on the need to adopt a fearless approach in T20I cricket by Team India and praised star batter Virat Kohli, saying that he has the ability to get a 40-ball century. Delhi Capitals is currently at eighth place in the points table with six points after three wins and five losses. They lost their last game to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Speaking during a media event in Delhi, Ganguly said, “The most important thing for India is to play without fear. There is no hard and fast rule about age and playing youngsters in T20Is, James Anderson still plays Tests and bowls 30 overs in Tests, MS Dhoni still hits sixes and both are in their 40s. Six-hitting is important. Virat has got the capability to hit a 40-ball century. It is about playing fearlessly and freely in T20Is.”
“India needs to go out and hit. Rohit, Virat, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya etc. All of them are exceptional talents and their six-hitting abilities are tremendous, he added.
While Ganguly would like the selection committee, coach Rahul Dravid and Rohit to take decisions in the best interest of the team during the T20 World Cup, he would ideally like to see the Kohli-Rohit opening combination.
“If you ask me and it’s just my personal opinion and I’m not saying that the selectors should do it, because at the end of the day, it’s their call, Rohit and Virat should open,” he said
After a magnificent home Test series against England, has Yashasvi Jaiswal fallen off the radar in terms of T20 World Cup selection, taking his recent IPL form into account? “I don’t think Yashasvi’s name has dropped too far down the ladder. He’s a special player,” Ganguly replied.
For him, selection for T20 World Cup shouldn’t be based on one IPL season.
Expanding on the Team India he wants for the T20 WC starting from June 1 this year in West Indies/USA, Ganguly said that there needs to be a balance of youth and experience.
“There needs to be a balance of experience and youth. This is the case with great teams. You have to look at all the performances (in IPL and international both). The experienced players of India are tremendous because of the performances they have put up over the years.”
Speaking on the Impact Player rule, which allows teams to use substitutes in the matches, Ganguly said that it has not really diminished the role of all-rounder, but rather given the team a way to play better batter instead of an average all-rounder.
“Good all-rounders always play and contribute. Look at Hardik Pandya, Rashid Khan, Mitchell Marsh and Glenn Maxwell,” he added.
On KL Rahul‘s approach in T20 cricket, Ganguly said that it all depends on what his captain and coaches tell him.
“His innings against Chennai Super Kings, was exceptional (82 in 53 balls on last Friday),” added Ganguly.
Ganguly said that IPL will indeed affect how selectors choose the squad for T20 WC, but hoped that selectors will look at performances in the past three-four seasons.
DC’s next game is against Gujarat Titans (GT) at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium on April 24.
With PTI inputs
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