Team India have been on the receiving end after their humiliating loss in the T20 World Cup semi-final clash against England. The Men in Blue posted 168/6 in their 20 overs, but England openers – Jos Buttler and Alex Hales – came out all guns blazing and finished the match within 16 overs.
Recently, former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja raised questions regarding Rohit Sharma’s captaincy after their below-par performance in the semis. Now, another ex-opener and a legend of the game Virender Sehwag has opined that Indian management should focus on the youngsters and get rid of senior players in the shortest format.
Sehwag cited the instance of the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007, where many senior Indian cricketers were not part of the squad, and a bunch of youngsters under the leadership of MS Dhoni went on to clinch the title.
“I won’t talk about mindset and all that, but I would definitely want to see changes in personnel. I don’t want to see certain faces in the next World Cup. It happened in the 2007 T20 World Cup, also. The stalwarts playing for all these years did not go to that World Cup. A bunch of youngsters went, and nobody had any expectations from them, and I would want to see a similar sort of team picked for the next T20 World Cup, nobody will expect them to win, but that team will be for the future,” Sehwag said on Cricbuzz.
Sehwag suggested that the selection panel should take some tough calls if they are concerned about the future of Indian cricket. The 44-year-old also claimed if the selectors don’t make changes, then the results will also be the same in the next World Cup.
“If you start thinking about your future now, then only you’ll be able to put together a team in two years. I would not want to see some non-performing seniors in the next World Cup. I hope the selectors will make such calls. But the problem is will these selectors remain till the next World Cup? There will be a selection panel, new management, and a new approach, so will they make the changes? But one thing is for sure if they go into the next World Cup with the same team and the same approach, then the results will also be the same,” he added.
