"Bumrah and Shami will not be in the team forever"- Rohit Sharma hints on India's plan for T20 WC
India won the last ICC tournament way back in 2013 and since then, India hasn't been able to get success in any kind of big tournament. And with the T20 World Cup just a couple of months away, the Men in Blue are sweating hard to find the best possible combination for the team.
That is why they are making wholesome changes to the team. However, the biggest challenge for India ahead of the World Cup will be the Asia Cup 2022 because India will miss the services of their first choice pacers in Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
Both pacers are not part of the Indian set-up for the tournament. Instead, India has gone with two new pacers in Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh, with only one experienced bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bumrah was ruled out due to injury, while Shami wasn't given a chance in the team.
It created a backlash among many former cricketers. However, the Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma, has opened up on the exclusion of both seamers. In an interview with the Indian Express, Rohit said that they don't want to rely on one or two players, and that is why they have given a chance to the youngsters.
Speaking on Bumrah and Shami, he said, "(Jasprit) Bumrah, (Mohammed) Shami and all these guys will not be with the Indian team forever, so you have to try and prepare the other guys. 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."
He further said that the management wants to create a better bench strength and to have good options because India will be playing a very large amount of cricket in the coming years. Rohit also highlighted the importance of giving confidence to the young players.
He said that giving opportunities to the new players would give them the confidence to perform. He also pointed out that the Indian team that is touring Zimbabwe has a lot of new players that are travelling for the first time.
Rohit concluded that this will give the team the confidence they require and the likes of Shahbaz Ahmed and Rahul Tripathi will get the right exposure because the most important thing is to play for your country.