Former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth has always had a habit of making controversial comments, and with his YouTube channel, Cheeky Cheeka, he has often surprised Indian fans with his preferences. He has now suggested players like Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah not to play all the matches.
India has also been troubled by many injuries. Axar Patel suffered an injury scare in the very first game of the New Zealand series as he walked off the field with a bleeding finger.
India have anyway adopted a different approach for their injured players like Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah. Both the stars were rested for the ODI leg of the series as it was felt that Hardik Pandya, who has just returned from injury, should get enough time and space to improve his flexibility.
“I think guys like Bumrah and Hardik should not play one or two matches” – Kris Srikkanth
Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth believes that players like Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah should not be included in all games for India. Rather, he has become the first among former cricketers to support the policy of workload management.
“I would still like India to play like this, batting first. But I would also like to see them chase 200, so this is a practice. If you are chasing, it will be challenging in the World Cup and in every situation, you will not always get a chance to bat first,” Kris Srikkanth said on India’s preference towards batting first.
He has then called for rotation of players, as if a player gets injured during this phase, he does not get enough time to recover when the ICC World Cup is less than three weeks away.
“My only concern is injury. Axar is injured and we don’t want key players to get injured. I think players like Bumrah and Hardik should not play one or two matches. There should be rotation because if you get injured there is no time to recover,” he said on ‘Cheeky Cheeka’.
“He was riding with Abhishek Sharma,” Srikkanth praised Suryakumar Yadav, but with a sense of disappointment
Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav has been struggling with poor form ever since he was appointed captain of the team. Struggling for form, the batsman may lose his Indian T20I spot to another player at the end of the ICC T20 World Cup, which could also be his last assignment as team captain.
In the New Zealand series, Surya showed some glimpses of his excellent touch and scored runs fluently along with Abhishek Sharma. Both the batsmen made a big partnership of 99 runs and Suryakumar also contributed 32 runs in 22 balls.
However, Surya could not convert it into a big score and was out for 32 runs. Kris Srikkanth felt that if he had taken his innings deeper into the game, he could have batted longer and taken the score further.
Kris Srikkanth said, “What are you doing, Surya? You were out for 32; you had 50 in hand. It’s been a long time. He played well. He was riding with Abhishek Sharma. He should have played like this for a while longer.”
“Batting first is always a big advantage for India” – Kris Srikkanth
The former Indian player has said that batting first in T20Is is a huge advantage for the Indian team. He reflected on the fact that teams are always under pressure when they have to chase a target of more than 200 runs. He also observed that if India were chasing such a big target, it would put undue demands on Abhishek Sharma to score runs.
“When you bat first and score more than 200, you have won the battle psychologically. I will say this as an opener: When you see a target of 250, you get scared. You always have to go for the hit.”
Chris Srikkanth said, “Suppose India were chasing this target, it would have been mandatory for Abhishek to score big. It is more difficult when you are chasing. Batting first is always a big advantage for India.”
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