"I would call Dinesh Karthik a fine finisher but actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav," Srikkanth said.The Indian team has a jam-packed schedule heading into the T20 World Cup in October and all eyes will be on that particular tournament, with millions of hope resting on the men in blue to deliver a major international trophy after a considerable amount of time.
A lot of speculation is ongoing at the moment on what the squad would look like for the World Cup and former India captain and ex-chairman of the selection committee, Krishnamachari Srikkanth has shared his two cents on who might be termed as a finisher in the side.
Talking on Star Sports show Follow the Blues, Srikkanth said according to him, finisher is someone who can walk into the middle in between 8th and the 12th over and stay there till the final over and win the natch. He says skipper Rohit Sharma as well as KL Rahul are great finishers. Dinesh Karthik is another name who is consistently performing in the designated finisher’s role but Srikkanth said he thinks that the actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav. He also namedrops Rishabh Pant as well as Hardik Pandya who fit into the mould.
It's time to finish the game, who would you pick? 🤔
Watch @KrisSrikkanth & @JockMore debate who are the best finishers for #TeamIndia and have your say 👇.#AsiaCup #BelieveInBlue pic.twitter.com/eBgGVoxzWf
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) August 9, 2022
“In my book, the finisher is the guy who can take the batting from the 8th or 12th over and go on till the 20th over and win the match for India. KL Rahul is a good finisher, Rohit Sharma is a good finisher. They go opening by the way. I just can’t say that you bat the last 5 overs and say he’s a finisher. I would call Dinesh Karthik a fine finisher but actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav. He is a brilliant finisher. You have Rishabh Pant, who is a brilliant finisher. You have Hardik Pandya, who is a brilliant finisher too. I think I would like to clarify that a finisher is a guy who takes the team from the 8th over and goes on till the 20th over,” the former World Cup winner said.
Former India wicketkeeper and ex-chief of the selection committee, Kiran More who was also part of the show, feels that the emergence of Hardik Pandya as a bowling option convinced the team management to include another wrist spinner in the squad for the Asia Cup.
“The way Hardik Pandya has got back in form, bowling to 140-147 km. When the captain gets such a player in the team who can bowl 4 overs and take wickets as well as gets runs for the team and a finisher as well, such players are needed in the team,” More said.
More also said that the team that has been announced for the Asia Cup will differ with the final T20 World Cup squad. He backed pacer Mohammed Shami to be in the World Cup squad and said Avesh Khan will be a good backup in case a 1st team bowler is injured.
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“But I want to say that this team that has been announced (for the Asia Cup) will not be the same team for the T20 World Cup. Mohammed Shami will definitely be there in the Indian team. The back-up that they are taking along is not the final team, this is just the preparation for the World Cup. I will say that Mohammed Shami must definitely go for the World Cup. The process Rahul Dravid works is the way he is handling the team. In case of back-up if any good bowler is down with injury, then Avesh Khan would fill in his place in Australia because you don’t know when you could get injured especially the fast bowlers. Bumrah is currently injured right now, so I think Mohammed Shami or Bumrah will definitely go to Australia for the World Cup,” he said.
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First published on: 10-08-2022 at 05:59:22 pm