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'Tendulkar had the keeda. You are trying to tell me, 'No one has that'?': Shastri's remark on India's major concern
Ravi Shastri spoke in detail about one of the major issues that hurt India throughout the past 2-3 years, significantly during the white-ball World Cups in 2019 and 2021.
Over the past few years, Team India has struggled to find consistent all-rounders. Hardik Pandya seemed to have solved the issue when he arrived in the international circuit, but his persistent back injury meant India had to accommodate his role largely as a batter over the past two years. While Hardik did make a strong comeback as a bowler in the Indian team after the 2022 Indian Premier League, a lack of genuine all-rounder did make a significant difference for the side in global tournaments like the ODI and T20 World Cups.
Former India cricketer Ravi Shastri, who served as head coach for the side from 2017-2021 and was at the helm during the side's World Cup campaigns in 2019 (ODI) and 2021 (T20), had earlier stated that the absence of an all-rounder did cost India the trophies. During his commentary stint with FanCode during the India-West Indies ODI series, Shastri spoke further on the same as he recalled the presence of multiple part-time bowlers in the Indian team in the past.
“There were Sehwag, Sachin, Yuvraj, Raina. But in the past 3-4 years, you had nobody. So, the whole balance of the side was compromised. So, it was good to see someone like Axar and Hooda in your side. They can bowl, they can bat,” Shastri said.
When asked about the reason behind lack of all-rounders in the recent past, Shastri said that there needs to be a better communication between the captain and selectors, adding that a detailed search in Indian domestic circuit can unearth multiple all-rounders.
“What can help is a better communication between a captain and the selector. Where the selectors are told to identify one player in the top-6 positions who can give you 4-5 overs. ‘I want someone who can bowl 4-5 overs. Find someone in the domestic cricket who can do that. Go and find that guy for me’,” said Shastri.
“At the end of the day, surely there are batsmen around the country who enjoy bowling, who have that 'keeda' to bowl. Like Tendulkar had that 'keeda'. If he finished the batting, he was like, 'I don't care'. He would take the ball and try different deliveries like off-spin, leg-spin. So that is keeda. So there are plenty. Ajay (Jadeja) would love to bowl after he finished his batting. So you have to identify. You have 1.4 billion people man, and you are trying to tell me, keeda nahi hai kisi batsman ke paas, bowling karne ka? Kamaal hai (No batsman is interested in bowling? It's impossible).”
