Former Indian selector Saba Karim called for the entire overhaul of the Indian cricket team in limited-overs cricket after the tourists suffered a 1-wicket defeat against Bangladesh in the three-match ODI series opener in Dhaka on Sunday (December 4).
Karim told Sony Sports Network: “It is now time for us to pay attention to our white-ball cricket. The first thing is you will have to decide that our white-ball cricket has some issues which need to be resolved and for that, I feel you need an entire restructuring.”
He added, “This is being discussed for many days, if you have agreed that there is a problem, how will you address it? Do we need to bring a change in our game plan or our brand of cricket? Do we need to play with a different template? If we have to play like that, do we have the players like that or not?”
The former wicketkeeper-batter believes that the Men in Blue are still in doubt and confused about the approach they want to take moving forward, as there is a lack of clarity about the roles in the team.
Karim explained, “If you feel you have the players like that, are we creating an environment like that so that they can bat freely, if we have decided that we have to bat aggressively. I feel we are still in doubt what path we need to take and on top of that if we get a challenging wicket like today, we get stuck even more.”
He signed off by saying, “You will have to create different profiles for players and empower them that if you have to play aggressive cricket, this has to be your approach, then you cannot go the other way, whichever way the game might be going. You will have to continue to bat dominantly if you have decided that is going to be your template.”
