IND vs WI | India will look a much better side with return of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, opines Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir has opined that India will look a much better side in the series against West Indies with the return of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Gambhir also added that Jasprit Bumrah should be rested for the series to manage workload and give young players an opportunity to gain experience.
With the conclusion of the tour to South Africa, India will now look forward to preparing for the series against West Indies starting from February 6. With a defeat in the ODI series against South Africa selectors might have to rethink their strategy regarding squad selection. According to some of the reports, Ravichandran Ashwin will miss the series while Rohit Sharma will be fit to lead the team.Â
Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has opined that India will look a improved side with the return of Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja as they both were out of the squad due to injuries.Â
“Obviously Jadeja and Rohit will return. KL Rahul will be back in the middle order. Then India will look a much better team. Now, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will form the top 5 of the batting line-up. Jadeja will take the No.6 spot. There will be much more depth to the Indian team if you see Shardul at No.7,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
Jasprit Bumrah has been the spearhead of the Indian bowling attack over the years. Gambhir opined that Jasprit Bumrah should be given rest to manage the workload. He also mentioned that Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj can be included in the squad as they will gain experience through the series.Â
“I would want to persist with Prasidh Krishna for sure, irrespective of the conditions. Even Siraj... use these players. If Bumrah is rested for the next series which he should be, then Siraj and Krishna should be used in the West Indies series. And even if they concede a lot of runs, it won't matter because they need experience. Deepak Chahar should also play. He can be rotated with Thakur,” he stated.Â
Spin department was a area of concern for the Indian team as the spinners were very ineffective with the ball. Ashwin picked just one wicket in two matches against South Africa while Jayant Yadav went wicketless. Many former cricketers are in favor of including Kuldeep Yadav in the squad. Gambhir said that India should not take that decision in haste as Kuldeep didn’t have much game time in the last few months. He named Jadeja, Jayant and Yuzvendra Chahal as spinners to be included in the squad for the West Indies series.Â
“Not so fast. Because Kuldeep hasn't been playing cricket that much. He should play domestic cricket, then IPL, then we can think about it. Jadeja and Axar are the options. I would also like to persist with Jayant Yadav. He didn't perform poorly. He created two opportunities, although both the opportunities were let gone. So Jadeja, Jayant and Chahal can be the three spinners. Axar can be the extra spinner,” he concluded.Â