India’s Head Coach Rahul Dravid throughout a apply session earlier than the beginning of the third T20 cricket match between India and Afghanistan, at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, on Jan. 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI
India head coach Rahul Dravid was a happy man after the 3-0 sequence win over Afghanistan as few fringe gamers carried out properly to provide the staff extra choices for the T20 World Cup in June.
India performed 11 T20s after the ODI World Cup final 12 months and the thinktank was in a position to have a better have a look at some contenders comparable to Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube after frontline gamers got a relaxation.
Dravid was fairly satisfied at their efforts.
“We’ve had completely different individuals play after the final ODI World Cup for quite a lot of causes. But I feel it is simply good to see that there are some choices (forward of World Cup) who’ve put their hand up, and definitely proven that they have expertise to deal with.
“Some areas we might need some addressing in, and we were thinking about it,” Dravid said in his post-match press conference.
The only concern for Dravid was the lack of team-time ahead of the showpiece to be held in the West Indies and the USA.
The three-match series against Afghanistan, which India won 3-0, was India’s last T20 assignment ahead of the World Cup.
“Unfortunately, we really won’t have much cricket as a team anymore. We will obviously have the IPL, and you know, everyone will be watching closely to see how some of those guys play and what are the slots we need to fill in the team,” he said.
Dube emerged player of the series against Afghanistan for his 124 runs and two wickets, and Dravid was excited to have an all-rounder option to consider.
“He’s come back after a long time. He’s certainly very much an improved player after coming back. There’s no doubt that he always had the talent, but just really happy to see the way he performed in the series.
“I’m certain it’ll give him plenty of confidence as properly, you come again in and play a sequence and also you change into the person of the sequence. It’s nice and has definitely put his hand up. He’s going to have that chance to point out it within the IPL once more, like he did final 12 months,” mentioned Dravid.
The wicketkeeper’s slot too will come beneath scrutiny as India now have a number of selections in Jitesh, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, who’s but to regain full health.
The former Indian captain didn’t rule out anybody from competition.
“We’ve bought fairly a number of holding choices on the market. We noticed a few guys on this recreation. There’s Sanju, Kishan and Rishabh, I imply, we’ve got all these guys. “We’ll just have to see how things pan out over the next few months and make a decision on what we think is the best way to go.” The 51-year-old Bengaluru man was also impressed by captain Rohit Sharma’s decision to give the ball to leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi in the second Super Over against Afghanistan on Wednesday night.
Bishnoi successfully defended 11 runs dismissing Mohammed Nabi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz in successive balls.
“Rohit went with Bishnoi and it was his gut call. I think he felt that a spinner had a better chance to take two wickets. If they batted six balls, with the power that they had, they probably would have got 12 runs.
“But I assumed Bishnoi was sensible as a result of he bowled two tremendous balls. He pulled the size again. If the size had gone barely fuller, you already know, it will have gone for six. It was a extremely good intestine name from Rohit to go for the wickets and be extra aggressive relatively than in search of a safer possibility,” Dravid added.
Source: www.thehindu.com
