The Indian team seems to be forever on the hunt to find batters who can chip in with the ball. In the past, there were the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, and Virender Sehwag who could contribute with the ball in the middle overs and this added a lot of balance to the side.
However, in the recent past, the India team has been hamstrung as none of their top-order batters have the skillsets to chip in with a few overs in the middle phase of the innings. This has hampered the combination of the side. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that the likes of Axar Patel and Deepak Hooda have been good finds for the Indian team as both these players offer plenty of variety with the ball and are also very dangerous with the ball.
“There were Sehwag, Sachin, Yuvraj, Raina. But in the past 3-4 years, you had nobody. So, the whole balance of the side was compromised. So, it was good to see someone like Axar and Hooda in your side. They can bowl, they can bat,” Shastri said during his commentary stint on FanCode for the India vs West Indies series.
Shastri went on to add that there needed to be better communication between captain Rohit Sharma and the selectors and that there needs to be a concerted effort to look at the domestic scene to unearth all-round talent.
‘I want someone who can bowl 4-5 overs. Find someone in domestic cricket who can do that. Go and find that guy for me’,” said Shastri.
Shastri, who was a handy all-rounder himself, said that there are plenty of batters in India who enjoy bowling and have the ‘keeda’ to chip in with the ball. He cited the example of Sachin Tendulkar who always wanted to be in the game even when he was done with batting.
‘Like Tendulkar had that 'keeda'. If he finished the batting, he was like, 'I don't care'. He would take the ball and try different deliveries like off-spin, leg-spin. So that is keeda. So there are plenty. Ajay (Jadeja) would love to bowl after he finished his batting,” Shastri said.
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