There is no need to field all World Cup players in the upcoming limited-overs contest against Australia at home, opined Harbhajan Singh on Monday (11th February).
India is all set to host the Australians in two T20 Internationals later this month and five one-day internationals in March. Harbhajan believes that the premier players should be given rest following their grueling New Zealand and Australia tour, saying the hosts should look at the youngsters for the home series.
While explaining his point, the veteran off-spinner believes that India should go with a mix-and-match squad for the Australia series to make sure the senior players to get enough rest before the IPL 2019 and World Cup 2019, saying India has gained a lot of confidence from the Tour Down Under that is enough for the hosts with the young squad to tackle Australia at home.
Harbhajan said on Sports Tak on Monday, “I don't think you need to put the best 11-13 players in play because they had a very long tour of Australia and New Zealand. If they are asked to play in India, it might be too much for their body and then there is IPL also. So, it will be good if the senior players can be rested as much as possible.”
He continued, “This can be taken a chance for players like Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal and similarly you can see Siddarth Kaul and Mayank Markande, these young players can be given a chance and the pool should be expanded. If the pool is large, more and more players will come.
Don't think only about the World Cup but there has to be cricket after that too and a look should be given to people who will play after that and those should be looked at. Some senior players should be rested and some young players should get the opportunity in the India vs Australia series and it should be a mix-and-match.”
On India’s recent tours, Harbhajan pointed out, “This thing is definite. Jasprit Bumrah not playing and Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal not playing together is the reason that India conceded over 200 runs in two T20Is. Because if these three plays together and plus Bhuvneshwar, I don't think they will let past 200 runs Confidence has been a major plus from the series in Australia and New Zealand. When you go overseas and win in such a manner against big teams, the morale of the team gets high. Every player did well there, not even one would be thinking I did not do well in these series, it has been a great tour for India, for their confidence. For the time ahead, this tour Down Under will help them a lot.”
Meanwhile, Harbhajan further went on to predict that captain Virat Kohli will score a lot of runs in the World Cup 2019 if he stays fit through the hectic IPL schedule, saying the dashing right-hander is an important factor for the Men in Blue in the prestigious event.
Harbhajan signed off by saying, “Virat, as a captain, has to see how to manage players and who to rest and who not to rest, it's an important factor. He also has to keep his fitness in check. There are back-to-back matches in the IPL and there's a lot of travelling so he has to make sure that he doesn't get too tired or get a niggle. If he remains fit, he is going to make runs in England because if the summer is good there then it's going to be an Indian summer.”
(With Sports Tak Inputs)
