IPL 2023 has seen Hardik Pandya continue his prolific run in T20 both as an all-rounder and a leader for Gujarat Titans. Meanwhile, Ravi Shastri feels he will have a significant say for Team India during the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. Here's how.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri expects new faces in India's 2024 ICC T20 World Cup squad next year, with skipper Hardik Pandya having a "big say" in selection matters. While Test and One-Day International (ODI) captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli remain in the Twenty20 (T20) scheme of things, the phasing-out process started after a disappointing semi-final exit in last year's global meet in Australia.
"I think they will [look in a new direction]. The T20 World Cup is coming up, and there is a lot of talent among youth. In this year's IPL, we have seen some refreshing new talent. There will be new faces, not a new team. He [Hardik] is already captain of India, so he will continue unless he is unfit," Shastri told ESPN Cricinfo.
Shastri feels the same would happen in the upcoming tournament, just like the 2007 T20WC when India went with a relatively new team full of youngsters under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. "Now, they would go the 2007 T20 World Cup route and identify talent, and he [HP] will have an extensive choice, and his ideas will be different, and he would have played IPL and seen a lot of other players as captain of IPL. He is the man who is going to take these guys out on the park, no one else, so whatever he says has to be given importance," he added.
But Shastri also wants everyone to have clear priorities. "Don't even think of T20 World Cup till ODI World Cup is over; after that, you have enough time for T20s," he warned. As far as Hardik is concerned, Shastri finds him at his decision-making best when he is fit and leading from the front.
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"He [Pandya] is supremely confident about his abilities, and the fact that he is fit now makes a massive difference," he said. Shastri said the IPL will determine how India's T20 resources are stacked next year. "I believe one should be captain of his state in Ranji to captain in Test matches. Similarly, IPL is your biggest domestic T20 tournament. It is a great [platform] to test the temperament of a bloke against good opposition. Quality [compared to SMAT or Hazare] here is far better, and you take all that into account and see who's leading which franchise and who's doing well," added Shastri.
'Hardik doesn't have much workload'
Those who know the happenings in Indian cricket understand that the junior Pandya might never play Test cricket again as he needs to preserve his career after major lower back surgery. Since he now plays two formats (ODIs and T20Is), Shastri feels there will be limited workloads even if he bowls.
"Not really, and I will tell you why. October is the [ODI] World Cup. They don't play any cricket after the IPL, probably four-five matches. It's not that he is playing three formats. You have Test matches, and the moment Test series comes, he gets a corridor of a month to rest," Shastri said when asked if Pandya's bowling workload will be critical.
(With inputs from PTI)