India head coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday (February 20) said he and skipper Rohit Sharma are pretty clear about the team for the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia later this year.
Dravid’s comments came after India’s 3-0 T20I series victory over two-time champions West Indies. The Men in Blue are yet to lose a T20I match under Dravid’s coaching ever since he took over from Ravi Shastri last November.
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The chief coach said he and Rohit understand what should be the team combination for the showpiece tournament.
“I think we have got a fair idea between Rohit and myself and the selectors and the management,” Dravid said after their 17-run win over the West Indies in the third T20I.
“I don’t think there’s a set formula to it. But we’re pretty clear about the balance and the combination (for the T20 World Cup)…We are just structuring a little bit of the team around it and also balancing individual workloads as well.
“We have got a pretty fair idea of the kind of skills we’re looking for in Australia, with the kind of guys who are in running. Not everything is set in stone but we want to give everyone a fair chance to stake their claim for those spots,” he added.
With Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant being given a 10-day bio-bubble break, India also tried out Shreyas Iyer, while Ishan Kishan doubled up as the wicketkeeper in the final T20I.
“In the times that we live in, it’s never easy… I don’t think there’s a time-frame when you can actually say that okay, now this is the team you want to freeze on.
“You don’t want to cast your net too wide. We don’t also want to restrict ourselves to just 15 players. We want to give players opportunities, ensure that by the time we get to the World Cup, some of our guys have played at least 10-15-20 games,” Dravid explained.
“It gives Rohit a chance to play them, bowl them in positions that he wants to, but he also has to be balanced with the fact that we need to have a few back-ups of people in case of an injury,” he added.
Kishan failed to impress in the T20I series as an opener, scoring 71 runs at an average of 23.66. In the final game, Ruturaj Gaikwad was given a chance and he managed to score only 4 runs.
Dravid said the youngsters would not be judged on the basis of one bad game or one bad series.
“This is a tough format. We are asking them to play high risk cricket. We’re asking them to play shots all the time. And we don’t judge them on a few games. It’s not the way, it’s done.
“We try to give people as much as possible consistent runs. We’re trying to give them opportunities to play and not judge them on a game to game basis or on one series.”
Giving full support to IPL 2022 auction’s most expensive buy Kishan, Dravid said: “Ishan has been picked on his potential, his performance. Yes, you cannot specify this many games. Sometimes it’s combination, sometimes it’s injuries.”
“Never always give a player the same number of games, there cannot be a written number in stone whether it’s seven or six matches.”
“Whether it’s Ruturaj Gaikwad or Avesh Khan today. We are not judging them on one game. They’re here because they perform and deserve to be here,” the former captain stressed.
“We like to give the players confidence in the group in and around the squad and that they are not going to be judged on one game. It’s always a tricky balance. But in the larger group, I’m not concerned about one-off series. In this format, it’s going to happen,” Dravid added.
(With PTI inputs)
