To survive in the Indian cricket team without performing well in either department is extremely tough. Especially with Gautam Gambhir taking over as the head coach now, he will make some harsh calls even if there are a slip or two by any of the established names in Team India.
Mistakes happen in cricket, but if a player does not work on his skill and keeps repeating the same mistake, the team management will have no other option but to drop him from the squad. It happened with Wriddhiman Saha, who was majorly selected because of his wicketkeeping. However, because of his disappointing batting performances, Saha got dropped.
Similarly, it has become important for India to have batting as well as bowling depth so that the bowlers can chip in with the bat if the batters have an off day, and the batters can chip in with the ball if bowlers have an off day. In the third T20I of the series against Sri Lanka, Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh won the match for India with their spectacular bowling performances.
Fans even saw Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill bowl in the ODI series. Here’s a list of two such bowlers who will have to improve their batting to survive in Indian team under Gambhir’s coaching.
1. Arshdeep Singh needs to improve his batting to stay in Indian team
Arshdeep Singh was the hero for India in 2024 T20 World Cup, but in just a few days, he faced the anger from the fans because he tried a big shot when India needed only 1 run from 15 balls to win the ODI match against Sri Lanka. He got out LBW and match got tied. If this happens in a big match, Arshdeep might even lose his place.
2. Yuzvendra Chahal
India lacked a leg-spinner in the recent series against Sri Lanka. Yuzvendra Chahal is the highest wicket-taker in IPL, but the team management ignores him because of his poor batting. India could have qualified for 2019 World Cup Final had Chahal been a better batter. If he works on his batting, Chahal can be back in the Indian team soon.
