India’s bowling coach, Paras Mhambrey feels that young Indian players will learn to adapt themselves to the team atmosphere in the upcoming bilateral series before going into the ICC events and he emphasized the importance of red-ball cricket, which many young players aim to play at the highest level.
India will play South Africa away from home in a three-match T20I series beginning on Sunday. The series begins with a three-match T20 series followed by three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and concludes with two Test matches in South Africa. Senior Indian players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were rested for the white-ball leg, with many youngsters being brought into the team following the conclusion of the ODI World Cup 2023.
Speaking to the PTI, Paras Mhambrey spoke about the importance of bilateral T20I series and feels that experienced Indian players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are aware of their gameplay in the shorter format of the game and that these games help the upcoming players understand various situations in the game.
“In no way it means that bilateral T20Is aren’t important, All I’m saying is that there is a balance that every player must maintain. Also it depends on who we are talking about. Players like Rohit and Virat look at very specific areas in their T20 games be it IPL or India.”
“One would like to watch younger players during bilaterals and examine and understand areas of their adaptability – game awareness, pressure situations, how they adapt to these varied situations the Indian jersey carries,” Paras Mhambrey said.
Experienced players like Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami are still anticipated to play in the T20 World Cup next year, there are questions about whether Rohit and Kohli will be included in the squad, as their last game came against England in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
There Will Be Some Bowlers, Who Would Choose The White Ball Format – Paras Mhambrey
Paras Mhambrey believes that regardless of how lucrative white ball cricket becomes on the global stage, the future generation of fast bowlers will always prefer red ball cricket and stated that bowlers who solely play white ball cricket are likely to be players who have dabbled in red ball cricket.
“I would never say people don’t want to play red-ball cricket. Even now if you ask any aspiring fast bowler or spinner what the format you want to excel in, he will always pick Test cricket first,” he added.
“Yes, obviously, there will be some bowlers, who would choose the white ball format. They would have probably played all formats and then decided that their game and skill sets suited the white ball format more. Now that will be a very individual call and no one can do anything about it,” Paras Mhambrey added.
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravichandran Ashwin will return to the team for the two-match test series against South Africa, while Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Mukesh Kumar will be included in the red-ball plans following the conclusion of the 2023 World Test Championship final.
