IPL is a massive tournament ahead of T20 world Cup, reveals Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri acknowledged that the IPL has a massive role in the lead up to the T20 World Cup. Speaking about Dhoni’s future, Shastri said that we have to wait until he starts playing again while sharing that he encourages Pant to learn from his mistakes as ups and downs are a part of the journey.
Since the semifinal debacle in the World Cup, India have been in some outstanding form and the credit should also go to the head coach Ravi Shastri. The Indian side have done really well to move on from the loss as they now gear up for the next big thing in international cricket, the T20 World Cup 2020.
After whitewashing Bangladesh in the Test series, Shastri has acknowledged that the Indian Premier League has a massive role in the build-up to the T20 World Cup. He shared that players’ performance in the tournament will more or less be the measuring stick for a place on the flight to Australia.
Shastri also went on to answer a very important question, where does former skipper MS Dhoni stand when it comes to the plans for the gala event. Shastri conceded he can only answer the question once Dhoni starts playing again, which will be in IPL 2020. The wicketkeeper is yet to play a match post World Cup as he has made himself unavailable ever since.
"It all depends on when he starts playing and how he is playing during the IPL. What are other people doing with the wicket keeping gloves or what is the form of those players as opposed to Dhoni's form. The IPL becomes a massive tournament because that could be the last tournament after which more or less your 15 (for the T20 World Cup) are decided.
"There might be one player who might be there and thereabouts in case of an injury or whatever. But your team, I would say, would be known after the IPL. What I would say is rather than speculating who is where, wait for the IPL to get over and then you are in a position to take a call on who are the best 17 in the country," the head coach told TOI.
Rishabh Pant, who has been presented by the team as the successor of Dhoni, has been the talk of the town ever since he took over as the first-choice keeper of the limited-over sides. The youngster has been a failure with both the bat and gloves which, added to all the unwanted attention, has led to just worsening the situation for him.
When asked how Shastri helps him deal with all the unwanted criticism, he shared his words to the youngster, who is vying to make his mark in international cricket. Shastri urged him to learn from his mistakes and rectify them as ups and downs are part of the journey.
"Nothing. Just tell him that you are young and nobody expects you to learn everything in one day. You are bound to make mistakes, but as long as you sit down and think about ways to rectify those mistakes, you know that is what this game will teach you. You are not going to be a superstar in one day. You will have your ups and your downs. That is life, but the more you work harder, the more sacrifices you make, the better you will become," he concluded.
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