New Delhi, Oct 18 India tend to get carried away in their search for a replacement for Hardik Pandya, who is irreplaceable, and should instead look at players who can perform different roles, former captain Sunil Gavaskar said, stressing the need to strengthen the bowling attack.
Gavaskar said India should play at least four specialist bowlers, with the fifth and sixth options being all-rounders who can contribute with the bat, instead of compromising their bowling strength to extend the batting line-up.
“We sometimes get a little bit carried away with trying to find a replacement for Hardik Pandya. Hardik Pandya is irreplaceable. If you can’t find somebody of his calibre, then go with somebody who will do a slightly different job,” Gavaskar said on JioStar after the fifth and final T20I against the West Indies was washed out in Bengaluru on Saturday night.
The series ended 2-2.
Gavaskar cited Naman Dhir as an example of a player who could fulfil a different role, pointing to the young batter’s contribution with both bat and ball.
“Naman Dhir is doing that job. He’s bowling his overs well, and look at the way he batted in this game,” he said, referring to Dhir’s unbeaten six-ball 24 in the rain-hit series decider, in which only 7.4 overs of play were possible.
“The takeaway from the series is that, in their bowling, they have to play with at least four regular bowlers. A fifth bowler and a sixth can be your all-rounders, somebody who can bat as well. Somebody like a Naman Dhir, who’s more of a batter but who can come in and bowl two or three overs. Axar Patel, who can bowl his four overs.”
Gavaskar warned that prioritising batting depth could leave India vulnerable with the ball.
“The moment you go with batting up to number eight, you weaken your bowling, and that’s where you get beaten,” he said.
India and the West Indies shared the trophy after the five-match series ended 2-2, with rain washing out the final T20I in Bengaluru.
Gavaskar said the abandoned decider had denied India an opportunity to assess their bowling in the shortened contest.
“We didn’t get to see the bowling. It would have been interesting to see how the Indians bowled in this nine-over game,” he said.
He also emphasised the importance of identifying India’s preferred spin options and backing them consistently, even if they were not regular members of the playing XI.
“They may or may not be part of the playing XI regularly, but they are there in the larger setup. That is the message that needs to be communicated to the spinners especially because they can lose confidence pretty quickly in a shorter format,” he said.
Reflecting on Abhishek Sharma’s run in the series, former India opener Aakash Chopra said the aggressive left-handed batter was “a bit below par by his standards”.
“In the last game, when he didn’t get much strike, he looked a bit scratchy. He didn’t get any rhythm at all, and let’s discount whatever happened in this game. So, he was a bit below par by his standards in the series, but that is also going to happen.
“That is another reality of the brand of cricket you play. These things are going to happen. Anyone who plays at a strike rate of 200 is bound to have a few games like these. That he will keep getting runs consistently, that is our misconception,” Chopra said.
(PTI News)
