Former Indian batter Hanuma Vihari has highlighted the importance of the veteran Indian batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after India’s recent T20I series defeats to Ireland by 0-2 and England by 0-4.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Vihari has insisted that the Indian players shouldn’t be fooled by the Indian Premier League (IPL), adding that the grounds are smaller and surfaces are flat in India, when compared to overseas conditions.
“The value of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli is clearly visible. Would they have gotten out like this to short balls? Don’t be fooled by the IPL. In the IPL, the grounds are smaller, flat wickets, impact player rule, everything is there. When you play an away series, yes, we cannot talk about just one series, but they lost six out of seven games, which is concerning. Definitely, it is an alarm bell,” Hanuma Vihari said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Furthermore, the former Indian middle-order batter has asserted that the newly appointed Indian T20I captain Shreyas Iyer should have freedom to select his team without any major interference from the head coach, Gautam Gambhir.
“If the team management and selectors do not realise now, it will be too late. Shreyas Iyer as T20 captain in last 14 matches has lost 12 games. He returned to the team after two and a half years and was made captain. Was he given the team he asked for? Or was it Gautam Gambhir who gave the team, or did they take the decision together? If a captain is leading the side, I think at least 70-80% the power should be his. If the desired result does not come after that, then you can question it,” he added.
Additionally, Vihari has also cautioned the Indian batters against the Zimbabwe tall pacers, who could be dangerous on their home soil in the forthcoming three-match T20I series, which is scheduled to start later this month.
“The World Cup is two years away. Yes, a lot of players like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Nitish Kumar Reddy are missing, but you can’t just rely on them all the time. A new batch of players should come. Give them opportunities. Give them a long rope,” he stated.
“We will see how the next series goes. It is not easy. Zimbabwe at home are a dangerous side. They have tall fast bowlers. They will hit the deck. It will not be easy. The pitch in Harare is slightly conducive for fast bowlers so you will not have 250-260 scores there. To be honest, we should beat them 3-0, but it will not be a cake walk,” he concluded.
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