NEWS
Follow UsIndian captain Rohit Sharma and chief selector Ajit Agarkar addressed the media after the announcement of the 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies.
The squad that was announced a day before didn’t feature Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Rinku Singh, and Agarkar and Rohit spent most of the press conference talking about these players and also the selection of four spinners in the squad of 15.
The transcript of the press conference is as follows -
On Rinku Singh’s snub
Agarkar: It’s probably the toughest thing we have had to discuss. He has done nothing wrong, not even Shubman Gill for that matter. It’s about combinations. There are a couple of wrist spinners included to give Rohit more options. It’s just unfortunate. He's in the reserves, so that tells you how close he came to being in the 15. But at the end of the day, you can only pick 15 players from the squad.
On KL Rahul not being selected
Agarkar: KL's a terrific player. But we wanted players who could bat in the middle. KL's batting at the top right now (for his IPL team). We felt these two were better equipped at this point in the latter half of the innings.
On Virat Kohli’s strike rate
Agarkar: We haven’t been discussing it. He has been in great form in the IPL. No concerns there at at all.
On not being a captain and then being handed the leadership
Rohit: It's part of life. Not everything will go your way. It has been a great experience. Before, I played under other captains. It's not new to me. You go with it and do what is required as a player, and that's what I have done for the last month.
Also read - Reputation over performance - India’s T20 World Cup selection chaos
On Hardik Pandya
Agarkar: Nothing was discussed regarding Hardik Pandya's vice-captaincy. He has come after a longish layoff. He has gotten through all the games for Mumbai Indians, and we have got another month and a little bit till we play our first game. I hope that he builds on that form. There's no replacement for what he brings to the team, especially with the ball. His fitness is critical, and so far, he has gone well in the IPL.
On the selection methodology
Agarkar: It was a little bit of a challenge. You try and plan before IPL starts. We had conversations in the last few months anyway. You keep track of the performances and fitness of players, but if you get swayed by three months of cricket, there’s something wrong in the way you pick players. We were pretty clear in our thinking.
Rohit: In the past, we prioritized whichever format happens. Us being where we are, many players were given breaks (based on the format the team was playing). That was discussed as a selection committee group, as well as with coaches and players. Ajit came later into the picture and probably did not know earlier meetings about who should be rested and who shouldn't
On the selection of four spinners in the 15
Rohit: I don’t want to go into too much detail because I am sure opposition captains will listen to this. I wanted more spinners. We know what the conditions are like. Matches start at 10-10.30 in the morning. There's a technical aspect involved in this. Maybe I'll speak about it at the first press conference in the West Indies. I won’t say now, but definitely there. I wanted four spinners and three seamers, and along with Hardik being there, you get the (required) balance. With two spinners being all-rounders, then two attacking spinners also give you balance in the spin department. We can decide what to play with based on the opposition's composition.
On the role of Pandya and Dube with the ball
Rohit: Expect them to do what they are doing in IPL. Unfortunately, Shivam hasn’t bowled a single ball in the IPL but is a seasoned cricketer. When he plays T20 format, it’s about a little bit of skills coming into the picture. I will be expecting if we need Shivam to ball a few overs, he will. Same with Hardik, he has come and bowled whenever needed. Whatever the role of the allrounders is, they must do that.
On no off-spinners in the 15
Rohit: We discussed a lot. Unfortunately, Washy (Washington Sundar) hasn’t played a lot lately. It was then between Ash and Axar. It was like that, and we thought having two left-arm spinners – Ashwin hasn’t played the format lately. Axar was in good form when he played those five matches against Australia. He has been bowling well and gives us that left-handed option in the middle if we want to do something different.
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