Indian cricket captain Rohit Sharma and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar engaged with the media regarding India's T20 World Cup squad selection, offering insights into various aspects including player omissions, team composition, and strategy for the upcoming tournament.
Here are the excerpts from their press conference.
Rohit Sharma on not being Mumbai Indians captain
Rohit: 'It's part of life, not everything will go your way. So, it's been a great experience. You know, before in my life, I have not been a captain and I have played under a lot of captains. So, it's no different to me. It's nothing new to me. you know, whatever's there, it's there. You go by it. Try and do whatever is required from you as a player and I have only tried to do that last month or so."
KL Rahul's omission from the squad
Agarkar: "I mean, look, KL is a terrific player. We all know that. The thing we are obviously looking at is guys who bat in the middle. At the moment, KL is batting at the top. Rishabh, not opening the innings. We feel Sanju has the ability to come down the order if need be. Rishabh is batting at 5 for Delhi. That was more the thinking. It wasn't whether KL is better or these guys are better. It's about the slots that we needed and we felt these two are better equipped at this point or have spent bit more time in the latter part of the innings which might be needed in the World Cup. So, that's mainly the thinking. Two incredible players as well."
Going back to Rohit as captain for T20 World Cup
Agarkar:" Generally, as selectors, you want a leader. Rohit has been a terrific leader. Just about 6 months between the 50-over World Cup and this one. We had to make some decisions at that point. There's no doubt about it. I know Hardik led a few series before that but Rohit's form in the World Cup, coupled with how much time we had. Rohit's a great player, it's not like it's forced upon us.
Rohit: "Ajit wasn't part of the selection committee at that point. Actually in the past if you have noticed, whichever format happens, we give priority to that format. Especially us being where we are, a lot of players were given breaks. If there was not T20 World Cup, if there was a 50-over World Cup coming up, the focus was on the 50-over World Cup. That is why we had to miss the T20 format. It was the same situation when we went to Australia for the T20 World Cup. There were lot of ODIs being played, we missed a lot of ODIs that time. Test cricket was the constant format we kept playing. That's the format you don't want to miss and you give a lot of priority to that. That's what we discussed as the selection committee group and the coaches and some of the players as well. Ajit came little later into the picture so he would probably not know what was discussed with the earlier selection committee regarding who should be resting and who should not be rested."
Picking a team based on previous performances or IPL form?
Agarkar: Little bit of a challenge. You try and plan before the IPL starts. We had our conversations over the last few months anyway. So, you have a fair idea of what you are looking for. Of course, there are some great performances through the IPL which you keep track of. Fitness levels of players. If you start getting swayed by 3-4 weeks of cricket, then there's something wrong in your thinking over the last few months. We were pretty clear with what we wanted to do. Of course all good performances are noticed and going forward, it will help us but we were very clear with our thinking.
Rohit: "A lot of the ICC tournaments that we played in the recent past, we were fortunate we had Asia Cup before the T20 World Cup. We didn't have any games before the World Test Championship last year. Straight from IPL, we moved into that final. So, like Ajit said rightly, we started talking about what the combination will look like, what will be our playing XI, what the pitches are in West Indies. So, you sort of make your playing XI in the mind, and try and work around it. Look at players who can fill that particular role we are looking at. A lot of prep, the talk, the guys playing games, happens during the IPL. Lot of these guys have been playing this format for a while now. So, it's not like there's anyone new in this format. They all have been playing international cricket as well. They've been playing IPL. So, the talk of what our 15 is going to be like started much before IPL started. It is just few spots, few individuals we sort of looked into during IPL. Because IPL, the performances changes every day. Anyone will score a hundred, someone will get 5 wickets - so you can't really change your planning and mindset around it. We had clarity on what our core group is going to be, our 70-80% of the squad and then a few changes if we had to make or pick someone, we were prepared for that as well."
Set combination for playing XI?
Rohit: "All the options are open. I am going to West Indies and see what's right and what can be done because the pitches there, we have never played in New York. I don't know how the pitches are going to be there. We have played in West Indies. But again, in West indies as well, we are playing different venues every game. So, you got to first understand what the pitches will be like and what sort of combination you need based on the opposition combination as well, what kind of team they are playing as well. One thing we really looked at was our middle-overs hitting. Our top-order hitting has been alright, it's not been bad. There are options there as well but we wanted in the middle overs, someone to come and play that role where he can play freely without worrying about who's bowling and who's not. And we picked a guy Shivam Dube on what he has done in the IPL and also a few games he had played before the IPL as well. We spoke about it and we said, okay this is what we wanted. Again, there's no guarantee what our playing XI will be like. When we go there, we will see, we will analyse. Couple of practice games that we will play and see based on what the opposition comes up, what kind of combination they have, we will try and fit our playing XI based on that.
Hardik Pandya's back + form still a concern/Vice-captaincy
Agarkar: "Not really. Nothing discussed with regards to vice-captaincy. Form, you want all guys to be in good form. He's come after a longish layoff. The good part that we have looked at is that he has gotten through all the games so far for MI. We have got another month and a little bit till we play our first game. We know he's doing that and the hope is that he keeps building on that form. As long as he stays fit, we know what he brings, how much balance he gives the team. I don't think there's a replacment for the things he can do as a cricketer at the moment, especially when it comes to the way he bowls, really gives balance. I think he'll give Rohit options to play different combinations. His fitness for us is critical and fortunately, he's gone okay in thsi IPL."
Rinku Singh missing out
Agarkar: "It's probably the toughest thing that we have had to discuss. He (Rinku Singh) has done nothing wrong, not Shubman Gill also for that matter. It's again the combinations like Rohit said, we are not quite sure about conditions we'll get. So, we wanted to try and have enough options. There are couple of wrist spinners that were included in the squad - Chahal and Kuldeep, to give Rohit more options. Axar again, batting all-rounder or bowling all-rounder rather. It's just unfortunate. I don't think it has anything to do with Rinku Singh. It's not his fault that he missed out. It's more the 15 that we felt. Two keepers who are both terrific batters. There's already an extra batter sitting out, whoever doesn't play. So, we just thought of having another bowling option might be handy going forward in the tournament. He's still one of the travelling subs that's how close it was. Tough on him but at the end of the day you can only pick 15."
Rationale behind 4 spinners/3 pacers
Rohit: "I don't want to go into too much detail. I am sure all the opposition captains will be listening to this. I will give you a very short answer to this. I definitely wanted 4 spinners. We have played a lot of cricket there. We know what the conditions are like. The match starts probably at 10 o' clock, 10:30 in the morning. So, there's a little bit of technical aspect involved in this. Maybe in the first press conference when I do in the West Indies, I will give more detail on this. Actually there is the reason for 4 spinners which I am not gonna say in public now. I won't say it now but I will say it there, what's the reason behind it. I wanted 4 spinners for sure and 3 spinners, Hardik being the 4th. So, you get that balance of seamers and spinners. Obviously, with 2 spinners being all-rounders, - Axar and Jaddu and then two attacking spinners, Kuldeep and Chahal, gives you a little bit of balance in your spin department as well. Like I said, based on the opposition composition, we can decide what to play with. There's a good chance Kuldeep and Chahal can play together. There's a good chance left-arm spinner can play along with Kuldeep or Kuldeep may not play, Chahal may not play. All sorts of things are possible.
Virat Kohli's Strike-rate
Agarkar: Virat Kohli's strike rate - don't think we have been discussing it. Look, he's been in great form fortunately in the IPL. So, no concerns there at all. With regards to how it's going in the IPL, you're still going to a World Cup. It's still international cricket. There's still that gap there. So, you've got to prepare knowing there's that gap there. That's where experience does matter a lot. If the tournament turns out to be like how the IPL is where 220 plays 220, I think we've still got enough in the team, the balance or the power that you can match that. There's no real point overthinking. You try and take the positives that are happening in the IPL - form of of some of the guys, some of the newer guys coming through. At the end of the day, when you turn up for a World Cup game, the pressures are a little bit different.
Role of Hardik and Dube, especially with ball
Rohit: Expect them to do what they are doing in the IPL. Unfortunately, Shivam (Dube) hasn't bowled in the IPL. He's a seasoned cricketer who bowls a lot of overs in red-ball cricket. So, he knows how to bowl. It's just that when he plays that T20 format, it's just about a little bit of skills coming into the picture. The bowlers with some kind of skillset have good chances of having success in this format. I am honestly we will be expecting if we need Shivam to bowl a few overs, he will be bowling few overs. Same with Hardik as well. He's been bowling regularly in the IPL as well, whenever it's been required, he's come and bowled. He has played all the games, so fitness-wise no issues. All-rounders will have to bat, bowl, field, take some catches. We have got 2 spinner all-rounders as well who are quality as well. So, we will be looking forward to have contributions from these 4 guys, not just these 4 guys but all of us.
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