Legendary captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni hasn’t just exerted influence on star Indian cricketers with respect to their game but also around their choice of words during any kind of media interaction. As a result, we tend to hear words such as “process” and “managing resources” from active Indian cricketers time and again.
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India T20I captain Hardik Pandya, who has even started to finish innings like Dhoni in spite of hesitating to fill his shoes once, is an outright fan-boy of Chennai Super Kings skipper. Been accustomed to taking refuge in promoting the “process”, Pandya seems to have shown ODI and Test captain Rohit Sharma the way around echoing Dhoni.
Addressing the reporters after chief selector Ajit Agarkar announced a 17-member squad for Asia Cup 2023, Sharma laid emphasis on working with whatever resources are available when asked about the absence of all-rounders in the Indian team.
8 Years After MS Dhoni’s Statement, Rohit Sharma Echoes CSK Captain Around Managing Available Resources
Sharma’s comments have come 8 years after Dhoni had spoken on similar lines during ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. In fact, Dhoni iterated about “available resources” during different phases of his captaincy career.
The one mentioned below had come right after India defeated Bangladesh in the second quarter-final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Having led India to a victory for the 100th time in ODIs, Dhoni was talking about his learning from leading the national team at the highest level.
“The search for an all-rounder has been there for the last five years and we are still in search of one. So, I decided [that] whatever I don’t have, I won’t crib and what I have, I will make do with it.”
Sharma, on the contrary, was comparing 2011 World Cup squad to the current one. A chief difference between the two squads lies in how various specialists batters from the World Cup-winning squad encompassed an ability to contribute with a ball in hand.
Depending on the situation and opposition, each one of batters namely Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan could not only roll over their arms but also pick crucial wickets. Modern-day specialist Indian batters, on the other hand, appear to have given up on the possibility of adding another skill to their arsenal. Not that the current squad doesn’t have specialist all-rounders, absence of batters who can bowl a bit hurt India more often than not.
“They [2011 squad] had the individuals who could bowl and bat. Jo aapke paas available rehta hai, aapko usse kaam chalana padhta hai. Hamare paas jo available hai, jo perform karte hai, hum unko chances dete hai [You have to manage with the available resources. Whosoever is available and performs, we give chances to him]. You cannot overnight create someone who can bowl. But hopefully, [Rohit] Sharma and [Virat] Kohli can roll their arms over [laughs].”
Frankly speaking, it is simply deplorable that Indian cricket team is having to bear with “available resources” even in 2023. As much as Sharma is correct that players can’t be created overnight, there is no going into a safe house around the fact that attempts to create such players have been few and far between. If it is the case that Indian cricket just doesn’t have batters who can bowl part-time, chest-thumping over depth in the system is a dead loss.
Can Rohit Sharma And Virat Kohli Bowl In ICC Cricket World Cup 2023?
First things first, the last line of Sharma’s aforementioned quote was spoken with a tinge of sarcasm.
Technically, both Sharma and his predecessor Virat Kohli can rewind the clock by bowling a few overs in both the Asia and World Cup. However, ideally, Sharma would be hoping for that need to never arise in multi-team events.
Having played a total of 195 ODIs in each other’s presence, Sharma and Kohli have bowled together in the same innings only three times thus far. While Sharma hasn’t bowled in an ODI in over seven years now, Kohli hasn’t done it in the last six years. Furthermore, neither of the two have bowled in an ODI World Cup match since 2015.
What are the other part-time bowling options for India?
Frankly speaking, none.
With ODI vice-captain Pandya and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja most likely to feature in all the matches of the upcoming two multi-team events, Sharma will have the cushion of six bowlers including four specialists. That being said, not more than one of these bowling options can afford to have an off day because the likes of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul can’t bowl either.
