Over the past few years, Team India has been struggling to find a genuine all-rounder and Hardik Pandya seems to be solution even since he made his international debut. However, his persistent back injury meant India had to accommodate his role largely as a batter over the last couple of years. Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri, who served as head coach for the side from 2017-2021 had earlier stated that the absence of an all-rounder did cost India the trophies.
During his commentary stint with FanCode during the ongoing India-West Indies ODI series, Shastri spoke further on the same as he recalled the presence of multiple part-time bowlers in the Indian team in the past.
Elaborating the same, Ravi Shastri said, “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.”
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When asked about the reason behind India missing all-rounders in the recent past, Ravi Shastri said that there needs to be a better communication between the captain and selectors, adding that a detailed search in the Indian domestic circuit can unearth a plethora of all-rounders.
Elaborating the same, Ravi Shastri said, “What can help is better communication between a captain and the selector. Where the selectors are told to identify one player in the top-6 positions who can give you 4-5 overs. ‘I want someone who can bowl 4-5 overs. Find someone in the domestic cricket who can do that. Go and find that guy for me’. At the end of the day, surely there are batsmen around the country who enjoy bowling, who have that ‘keeda’ to bowl.”
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The former coach concluded, “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. So you have to identify. You have 1.4 billion people man, and you are trying to tell me, keeda nahi hai kisi batsman ke paas, bowling karne ka? Kamaal hai (No batsman is interested in bowling? It’s impossible).”
