Former India cricketer Sandeep Patil opined that the team management can do without a backup wicketkeeper in the playing XI for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023 as the tournament is being played at home.
He also said that playing just Ishan Kishan alone in the XI as an opener, allows both Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav to play in the middle order, which is beneficial for the Indian team in the ICC event.
The void created by the absence of KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer has left the selection committee with the herculean task of naming a strong team of 15 for the showpiece event.
Rahul and Iyer have just started playing practice matches and how will they fare when the selectors sit down together to name the players, is yet to be known.
Ravi Shastri and Sandeep Patil, both part of the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup, offered a solution to this riddle, considering a scenario where both Iyer and Rahul won’t be available.
Former coach Ravi Shastri opined if Ishan Kishan can play as Rohit Sharma’s opening partner, then the team can have Suryakumar Yadav in the middle-order with Tilak Varma, adding that handing the latter a debut won’t be a bad idea.
Agreeing with Shastri’s suggestion, former selector Sandeep Patil said on Star Sports show Selection Day, “100 percent [if India should hand a debut to Tilak Varma?]. I will go with Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav. Who will be in the playing XI, can be decided after looking at the opposition.”
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Patil was asked if both Tilak and Suryakumar feature in the middle order, there is no place for a backup keeper.
He said: “I don’t think a backup keeper is necessary because the tournament will be at home. And if something happens to Ishan Kishan, fingers crossed, then we can get Sanju Samson overnight to any place.”
Tilak Varma impressed a lot in his debut T20I series against West Indies, scoring 173 runs with one fifty to his name.
