India vs West Indies: 'There are some gaps you need to fill', says Wasim Jaffer after Men in Blue's T20I series defeat

India’s 2-3 loss to West Indies in the recently concluded five-match T20I series has raised questions about their preparedness with the T20 World Cup just 10 months away and especially given the fact that the bulk of the squad will come from the present line-up. Former India player Wasim Jaffer opines that India would do better by focusing more on all-round performance to lend depth to the batting department in the lower order. “The bulk of the (T20 World Cup) team will be from this 15,” Jaffer said on ESPNCricinfo. “You need to look at the youngsters to take you forward in this format. So players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Arshdeep Singh, they are the future. But there are some gaps you need to fill. The major concern is the batting finishing at number seven. “Quite a few of the top order are not getting a start and not converting it and quite a bit of that boils down to them feeling there is nobody to bat after number seven so they have to bat the bulk of the overs and when you go with that mindset, it does not help,” he added. Jaffer suggests that having batting ability at No. 8 and even No. 9 would allow the top order by relieving them of the pressure to do the most with the bat. “Within 10 months’ time, India will be playing the World Cup. This cannot be the template. The batting needs to come till number eight, possibly nine, somebody who can tonk the ball. And obviously, the bowlers, need to start getting their batting a little bit better. At least their six-hitting or four-hitting ability. We need to look at guys who can bat and bowl. Shivam Dube comes to my mind. Venkatesh Iyer, Washington Sundar, those are the guys that come to mind and we need to groom them,” he concluded.