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Cricket Players'They don't rely on Virat, Rohit like how we keep relying on some players': Latif identifies India's 4 'game-changers'
The former Pakistan captain talked about the difference between the Indian and Pakistan team, especially in the white-ball formats.
Team India are currently taking part in a five-match T20I series against South Africa, trailing 1-2 after three games. After facing defeats in the first two matches, the Rishabh Pant-led side made a brilliant comeback in the Vizag T20I on Tuesday to beat the visitors by 48 runs. The Indian team, playing without first-team regulars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul, produced a strong batting performance in Vizag, scoring 179/6 before bowling the Proteas out on 131.
Indian openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (57 off 35 balls) and Ishan Kishan (54 off 35 balls) scored half-centuries, while Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten on 31 off 21 deliveries to steer India to a strong total in the third T20I. Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif, speaking in detail about India's opening pair, insisting that India don't want to solely rely on India's top-3 of Rohit, Rahul, and Kohli.
“They're building a team. They want to take their team to a very high level. All these matches, these are like hurdles. They want to bring some change to their cricket. They don't want to rely on Virat, Rohit, KL Rahul, like how we keep on relying on our players,” Latif said on his official YouTube channel.
“The way Gaikwad plays, the way Ishan Kishan and Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya plays, these are players who can change the game on their own. Shreyas Iyer, too, takes on the wrist spinners really well. They want to go one level higher than the previous generation. They want to take the average strike-rate up to 140 from 130,” said the former Pakistan captain further.
Team India will return for the fourth T20I of the series against South Africa on Friday in Rajkot. In the two-match T20I series against Ireland, Hardik Pandya will lead the Indian team in the absence of aforementioned India's first-teamers, in addition to wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant.
