Gautam Gambhir, the Indian team’s head coach, asked the fans and media to not get obsessed with Team India not having a fast bowling all-rounder in their squad. He also played down the need for developing one for Test format.
His words came in the press conference ahead of the first Test between India and Bangladesh. The match, part of a two-Test series, will be played in Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium from September 19 onwards.
While India is considered to be one of the best test teams in the world, their combination has always lacked a fast-bowling all-rounder. Ever since the retirement of Kapil Dev and Manjo Prabhakar, Team India has been searching for the next pace bowling all-rounder who can bring balance to the side.
While India has had great spin all-rounders in their ranks with Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja being two of the best and Axar Patel also in the ranks; the absence of a pace all-rounder has sometimes hurt India, especially overseas.
Hopefully, we can get someone really soon: Gautam Gambhir on India needing a pace bowling all-rounder
Hardik Pandya came as a huge ray of hope when he made his India Test debut in 2017 scored a century against Sri Lanka and even picked a fifer in England. But he has not played red ball cricket since his back injury in 2018.
Gautam Gambhir downplayed the importance of developing India’s next fast-bowling all-rounder in Test cricket. The 42-year-old believes that international cricket cannot be used to nurture talent because players must be prepared before making the step up.
The coach, however, reiterated his belief in the domestic system in developing the required talent for the big stage.
“International cricket is not about developing players. First-class cricket is there to develop players. International cricket is all about people coming in and delivering. We have been talking since Kapil Dev’s time that we don’t have a fast-bowling all-rounder. If we don’t have it, we don’t have it. If we have it, he has got to develop in First-Class cricket,” Gautam Gambhir was quoted by JioCinema.
“We have got a really strong First-Class structure, and hopefully we can get someone really soon. If we can get someone very soon, great for Indian cricket,” he added.
Gautam Gambhir also praised India’s spin-bowling all-rounders, calling them a ‘luxury’.
“We have people like [Ravindra] Jadeja, Axar [Patel], [Ravichandran] Ashwin, who has got five Test hundreds. Washy [Washington Sundar] is there as well. How many international sides have spin-bowling all-rounders? There are not many. India has got that luxury,” Gautam Gambhir said.
India has gambled on the likes of Shivam Dube and Venkatesh Iyer in limited-overs cricket and has a good prospect in Nitish Reddy in domestic cricket. It remains to be seen which player steps up for India in Test cricket.
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