Asia Cup 2022 LIVE: India playing two series simultaneously has become a trend, adopted by even England. Furthermore, using a long list of players, rotating multi-format cricketers, India has shown, it can be done and still achieve results. Skipper Rohit Sharma says that it has been possible because India’s vast bench strength. He added that it was one of the priorities when he took over and spoke at length on creating bench strength with head coach Rahul Dravid. Follow IND vs ZIM LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
As Rohit Sharma & Co prepare for the Asia Cup campaign, KL Rahul-led Indian team will play against Zimbabwe starting August 18. Two new faces in Rahul Tripathi and Shahbaz Ahmed are with the team.
“Bumrah, Shami and all these guys will not be with the Indian team forever. So you have to try and prepare the other guys. I and Rahul bhai spoke about how we are going to create our bench strength. That’s going to be very crucial considering the amount of cricket we play, injury factors,” Rohit Sharma said at an event in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Asia Cup 2022 LIVE: Rohit Sharma says creating BENCH STRENGTH top priority, says ‘Spoke to Rahul bhai on creating bench as Bumrah-Shami won’t be there forever’
Asia Cup 2022 LIVE: Rohit Sharma makes creating BENCH STRENGTH top priority, says ‘Spoke to Rahul bhai on creating bench as Bumrah-Shami won’t be there forever’
After Asia Cup 2022, India will take on Australia for a three-match T20 series, followed by three-match T20 series against South Africa. Team India will also play three ODIs against South Africa before the T20 World Cup in October. Hence, a second-string Indian team will complete the ODI assignment while the T20 team gets a much-needed break before T20 WC.
Considering the volume of the matches, Rohit Sharma said the team will have to do away with reliance on two-three players. In T20 World Cup 2021, heavy reliance on Hardik Pandya cost them dearly. The injured all-rounder could not perform at his best and India made a group-stage exit.
“We never want to be a team that relies on one or two individuals. We want to be a team where everyone can contribute and help the team win on their own. We want to be that kind of a team and that’s why we want to give the youngsters as many opportunities as possible and of course, you have got senior players around them. They can be of good help,” Rohit Sharma said.
Another great example will be Asia Cup. India will miss Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel due to injuries. But young Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan have been called up while Deepak Chahar has been added as a backup.
“As a team, we are working on a few things ahead of the Asia Cup. We have to keep the process going,” Rohit said.
Asia Cup 2022 LIVE: Rohit Sharma makes creating BENCH STRENGTH top priority, says ‘Spoke to Rahul bhai on creating bench as Bumrah-Shami won’t be there forever’
India Squad Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Dinesh Karthik (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan
Backups: Shreyas iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel
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