Team India pocketed the ODI series against West Indies 2-1 but still, the management face severe criticism from the fans for their tactics in all three matches. The visitors benched Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the second ODI which saw a terrible collapse. After being asked to bat first, the Men in Blue were bundled out for 181 in 40.2 overs and ultimately lost the game by 6 wickets. The Kohli-Rohit duo didn’t play the third ODI as well but this time, India showcased a remarkable show and won the encounter by a huge margin of 200 runs.
As stated by Hardik Pandya ahead of the second ODI, the Indian team management wanted to seek answers to a few questions and thus made the surprising changes. In fact, Kohli didn’t bat in the first ODI when the visitors were chasing 115 while Rohit had to step out only when the wickets started to fall in quick succession.
While many argued that Rohit and Kohli shouldn’t have been picked up if they were to be rested. Joining the bandwagon, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and lashed out at the Rohit Sharma-led side in his latest YouTube video.
“In recent history, they haven’t been playing spinners quite well. They’re traditionally solid against spinners, but you don’t see that control now. It needs to be addressed. Secondly, there are too many changes on every tour. It’s about time, before the World Cup, that you know your 15, and every player knows his role. And the team plays like that,” Butt said on his official YouTube channel.
“If you want to give someone rest, and try different combinations, send an A team itself. Let all players rest. If half of your first XI players are there and half are not, you can’t say that it’s your main team. Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill.. no one is new. They have double centuries in ODIs, centuries in IPL,” he added.
The former Pakistan captain further asserted that India still need Shikhar Dhawan at top of the order while suggesting a call-up for Ajinkya Rahane who last played an ODI for India in 2018.
“The way Rahane played in IPL and the way he came back in Tests, he is a possible option. And they will need Shikhar Dhawan. I don’t see any of the top-order batters, among right-handers, who can open as good as him. Either Shikhar and Shubman (Gill) can open and Rohit comes one down, or Rohit can open with Shikhar. They need experience in World Cup. They also need a guy in at no.5/6, either it’s Rahul or Rahane. When there’s pressure, the youngsters stutter. You need experience, the pressure gets to you,” said Butt.
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