"When it comes to big tournaments, you switch on in a different manner" - Ravi Shastri on Rohit Sharma's captaincy
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has expressed confidence in Rohit Sharma's captaincy prowess ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 and the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.
He opined that Sharma, being an experienced campaigner, will surely up his game at the showpiece events. Shastri also suggested that the skipper will have to ensure that the Indian batters are ready to be flexible with their respective positions in the order.
Speaking to Star Sports, the 1983 World Cup winner explained:
"I think he is a seasoned captain. Come the World Cup, he will up the ante. Bilaterals are one thing. When it comes to big tournaments, you switch on in a different manner. He knows the nucleus of the players. It is about him ensuring that everyone in that batting lineup knows that they don't own batting positions.
"You've got to be flexible with your batting ladder. No matter who the name of the player is. You do not own positions. You got to have flexibility. That is paramount, and use the right guys against the right oppositions."
Speaking about the World Cup, Shastri mentioned that it won't be very difficult for the selectors to pick the squad, considering that they already have a set of players in their scheme of things. On this, he said:
"The think tank would have thought about a group of 18 or 20 players at least four or five months before the World Cup and then given opportunities to each one of them, kept an eye on the injuries too, you know, whichever players who were part of the mix who got injuries and just come back, and then pick the right guys.
"It is for me pretty straightforward because you'll go on current form and you'll go on the 18 players. There aren't 20 or 22 to choose from. I don't think it's a headache. There will obviously be a headache when you pick one instead of another and one or two guys have to miss out."
Notably, India are yet to announce the squad for the Asia Cup 2023. The lineup is expected to be out on August 20, according to recent reports.
Ravi Shastri, MSK Prasad and Sandeep Patil name their squad for Asia Cup 2023
During a discussion on Star Sports, Ravi Shastri, MSK Prasad and Sandeep Patlil agreed upon a set of 15 players who should feature in the forthcoming Asia Cup.
The squad named by the trio included Tilak Varma, who is yet to make his debut in the 50-over format. Here's the squad picked by them:
Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, and Jasprit Bumrah.
The upcoming 2023 edition of the Asia Cup will be played in the ODI format in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, as per a hybrid model. The continental tournament is set to commence on August 30.