Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim said that he does not the logic behind resting the key player and questioned the confusion in the Indian batting order after the team’s six-wicket defeat against the Men in Maroon on Saturday and criticized Indian team management for resting Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma with World Cup around the corner.
India opted to rest their senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as they gave a chance to fringe Indian players in the 2nd ODI against West Indies but they could not perform for the team on the tricky wicket in Barbados as India collapsed from 90-1 to bowled out for 181 runs in 40.5 overs with middle overs failing miserably against the disciplined West Indies attack.
Speaking on Jiocinema, Saba Karim feels that regular players need to get some game time going into the World Cup and questioned India’s batting order once Shreyas Iyer returns from the injury, as these first two games do not give a clear picture of India’s plan for the World Cup and said that India should have played proper batting order in the 2nd game.
“The regular players also need time to face these challenges. At no.4, you are hoping that Shreya Iyer will come, but he will also need time to get going. Who is your backup there?
“Is it Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, or Sanju Samson? Because if they are, you have to design the batting order that way. Batting first was a challenge for us and it was good that we had the chance today, but it would’ve been ideal if we had the right batting order,” Saba Karim said
India played Sanju Samson at No.3 followed by Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, and Suryakumar Yadav in the 2nd game as none of the batters applied themselves on the slow surface at Barbados and it looked like most of the batters batted out of their position in the team, as could not find the rhythm at any part of their innings.
They Should Be Playing Because World Cup Is Near – Saba Karim
Saba Karim questioned Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s place in the team for the West Indies tour if they are not given enough chance to play in the middle and reckons that they should lead the team from the front with World Cup being scheduled in three months.
“Also, why are Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli not playing? What’s the point of taking them with the side if they’re not playing? Why not take fresh faces then? Ideally, they should be playing because World Cup is near, you don’t have much time left,” Saba Karim added.
India and West Indies will go to Trinidad and Tobago to play the final game of the series after playing the first two in Barbados and it will be interesting to see whether India continues their experimentation in the 50-over format or bring in the proper batting order for the final game.