Former India head coach, Ravi Shastri, opined on having at least two left-handed batters in the top six of the batting order for the ODI World Cup 2023, slated to be played in India during October-November. This comes after the selection committee announced the squads for the tour of West Indies which consists of varied options in terms of right-handers in the ODI setup.
However, Ishan Kishan is the only southpaw to feature in the top six of the batting order in the ODI squad. On that note, former cricketer Shastri expressed that the ‘Men in Blue’ will require balance in the setup, especially for the ODI World Cup. He further voiced his stance that he would like to see at least two left-handed batters in the top six of the order.
“You need to strike the right balance. Do you think a left-hander will make a difference at the top? It does not have to be opening, but in the top three or four. You have to weigh all those options. Ideally, in the top six, I would like to see two left-handers,” Shastri told ‘The Week’.
There is enough left-handed talent that can replace any senior player: Ravi Shastri
Notably, team India lost a key left-hander in the form of Rishabh Pant after the cricketer sustained multiple injuries in a car accident, in December 2022. Despite this, Shastri highlighted that there are other players such as the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, and Sai Sudharsan among others, who can make the cut courtesy of their impressive performances in the recently concluded IPL 2023.
“You have Ishan Kishan. In the wicketkeeping department, you have Sanju [Samson]. But the left-handers, you have [Yashasvi] Jaiswal, Tilak Varma. There is enough left-handed talent that can replace any senior player at the moment. There are so many youngsters. I might miss out a few here, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera. There is [Sai] Sudharsan, who played so well in the [IPL] final. There is Jitesh Sharma,” he said.
ODI squad for WI tour: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shardul Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohd. Siraj, Umran Malik, Mukesh Kumar.