While the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is still more than six months away, fans and cricket pundits have already started discussing Team India’s probable squad for the marquee event.
See Also: Indian cricket fraternity lauds Suryakumar Yadav for his dazzling half-century in 4th T20I
Sharing his two cents on the same, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on Friday (March 19) said that the selectors must pick the best squad irrespective of age.
"One thing I would like to clarify here is that it is not just about picking youngsters. It is about picking capable players, you are talking about the Indian cricket team, age should not be criteria. It is about what you are able to deliver and that is what matters, not age. If somebody is able to perform and may not be a young cricketer, but if you are able to perform you should be playing for India,” Tendulkar told ANI in an exclusive chat.
"Talking about youngsters, if you are able to perform then he rightfully deserves it. But if he is not able to perform, then maybe there are options you can look at. It is just not about age, it is a misconception that you should promote youngsters. I feel we should be picking our best 11. We should be picking our best 14-15 member squad and the best balance is known to the selection committee and it should be left to them," he pointed.
For their stellar performances in the domestic cricket and IPL, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav recently received their maiden call-ups for the England T20I series and both of them justified their selections.
While Kishan smashed 32-ball 56 on his debut in the second T20I, Suryakumar scored 57 off 31 balls in the fourth game to script India’s 8-run victory.
According to Tendulkar, playing top-quality bowlers in the Indian Premier League has prepared the youngsters for the stern challenges at the highest level.
"As far as Suryakumar and Ishan are concerned, they both have done really well, they have not looked out of place at all and there is a reason for that. They played against all these guys a number of times. Yesterday, one of the commentators said that Surya has played against Archer and Stokes like as good as playing against Rajasthan Royals.
"For us, when I went to Pakistan and Australia, I was playing all those bowlers for the first time and that was at international level, so here the beauty is that they have played against top bowlers in the IPL and then playing against them for India, it is a big difference, you know what to expect from them and that is what has happened. That is the beauty of our structure and we can noticeably see that our bench strength is really good," Sachin explained.
