There should be three left-handers in India's top seven: Ravi Shastri

If Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul fail to recover on time for the ODI World Cup, former India head coach Ravi Shastri wants the current management to include three left-handers in the top seven. 

Ravindra Jadeja will be there, while Ishan Kishan has also been travelling with the ODI set-up for a while now, leaving space for one more batter in the middle-order. And, Shastri feels that the management should give one of Tilak Varma or Yashasvi Jaiswal a go.

Kishan is averaging 46.26 after 17 ODIs but has largely batted as an opener, which might not be possible with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma in the set-up. Meanwhile, Jaiswal made his Test and T20I debut in West Indies but didn’t feature in the ODI series. Tilak too impressed everyone in the shorter format but is yet to make his debut in ODIs.

“There are three other positions where I think two left-handers have to come in, apart from the top four you mentioned. Now this is where the selectors’ role comes in because they are watching. They know who’s the guy who’s hot. If Tilak Varma is hot, bring him in. If you think Yashasvi Jaiswal is hot, bring him in,” Ravi Shastri said on Star Sports.

“So, if you have persisted with Ishan Kishan for the last 6 to 8 months and he’s going to keep wickets, he comes in, in any case. But get two left-handers. Including Jaddu, there should be three left-handers in the top seven. Ishan Kishan has been keeping it for the last 15 months. Why go somewhere else?”

Gill, Rohit and Virat Kohli are most likely going to be India’s top-three, while the two spots in the middle-order will be taken by Hardik Pandya and Jadeja. If Rahul and Iyer are fit, the two will walk into the XI, but there hasn’t been any concrete update on their match fitness. 

Suryakumar Yadav hasn’t been able to crack the ODI code but Sanju Samson has solid numbers in the 50-over format, averaging 55.71 at a strike rate of 104 after 13 ODIs. However, neither of these two can bowl and that’s where someone like Tilak could prove to be handy.

Talking about Tilak, Shastri said, “Very, very impressed with Tilak Varma. And I want a left-hander. If I am looking for a left-hander, I would really look in that direction.”

Shastri also spoke about Rahul, who underwent thigh surgery after sustaining an injury in the IPL 2023. India need him both as a wicketkeeper and a batter but Shastri believes it will be too much for Rahul to keep wickets in the 50-over format.

“See when you’re talking of a player (KL Rahul) who’s not played and is recovering from injury. To think of him in the XI of the Asia Cup, you’re asking a little too much of the player himself. And then you’re talking keeping. When a guy comes from an injury, the range of movement and things of that sort, so that’s a no no."