Ravi Shastri calls for three left-handers in India's middle order, more all-rounders

Ahead of the Asia Cup and ODI World Cup, former India cricketer and coach Ravi Shastri provided his views on some of the burning selection issues. India are yet to announce their provisional squad for the World Cup or complete squad for the continental tournament. This leaves the door open for many players amid lack of clarity in different departments. Here’s how he viewed the challenging selection choices on Star Sports’ ‘Selection Day Special Show’: On whether Ishan Kishan will come in and the impact of Shikhar Dhawan: “At the top of the order, nowhere else. And the others have to be flexible. Between Rohit (Sharma), Virat (Kohli), and Shubhman Gill, that can be 2, 3, 4. And a very important point is, I was coach at that time, and I keep saying that people don’t give the credit that Shikhar Dhawan deserves. I mean, that guy was an amazing player. You mention the World Cup in 2019 where we lost that semi-final, when we had a brilliant World Cup, he was the missing man there. You know, that made such a big difference – a left-hander at the top of the order, as opposed to three right-handers with the ball swinging away, which allowed teams to get a grip of where to bowl and bowl consistently.” On role of left-handers in the batting lineup: “There are two positions in the top seven where I feel two left-handers have to come in. This is where a selector’s role comes in because they are watching, they know who is the guy who is hot. If Tilak Varma is hot, bring him in. If (Yashasvi) Jaiswal is hot, bring him in. But bring two in at the top, so if you are persistent with Ishan Kishan for the last 6-8 months and he’s going to keep wickets, then he comes in, in any case. But getting two left-handers in that top seven, including Jaddu, there should be three in that top seven.” On pace-bowling choices: “For me, the pacers are important. If you need four over there, you already have one all-rounder (Hardik Pandya). So, if (Jasprit) Bumrah is fit, he walks in. (Mohammed) Shami walks in – that’s two. You’ve got (Mohammed) Siraj as a backup, and if needed, Shardul (Thakur) can be there. Shardul has done well in the West Indies one-day game; he can be a backup. And then you have room for one more.” On all-rounders beyond Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja: “I think to be fair, I will go with both the all-rounders - Axar (Patel) and Shardul, it gives me an opportunity. And keep Sanju Samson on standby in case something happens to the keeper there, where he can just fly out.”