“We want to create a bench of strength where tomorrow, if something happens to someone, we are not worried, and we do not want to worry or depend too much on a few individuals. That is not the right thing to do,” Rohit said. on the eve of the first Test against Pristine Zealand in Bengaluru. “We want to look to the future at the same time, try to make sure we have the right players as well.
“We want to develop guys where, even though there are accidents, we’ve been given someone to step in temporarily and take that position.
“It’s not about three or four options. We want to try to do that, you know, when it comes to hitting, there are a lot of options. We want to create the same thing with the pitchers as well.”
“You know, the reason we wanted to keep them close to us was because we were thinking of taking them to Australia,” Rohit said. The five-check Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts on November 22. “We just want to monitor them and see their workload. We have seen some talent in them. I understand that they haven’t played much red-ball cricket, but when you see a talent, you want to try to groom them.
“You have to fight and create them as close as possible to the team. And in a short period of year, they have shown that they also have some talent. Therefore, we want to secure them with the team and notice whether or not they will be in a position to play to world cricket or not, especially Test cricket, because Test cricket is a different ball game than white ball cricket. So, we want to protect them, we want to see what they can exchange with us and offer additional options with us, more than anything else.
“Nitish and Harshit are obviously quite talented individuals, and going forward they are obviously going to provide a lot of stability to the team. So I just want to see what they are capable of, what they have to offer.”
Mayank’s rise to his feet has been quick and pleasing to the public. He burst onto the scene throughout IPL 2024, bowling at speeds of 155 kmph, and so on, for the Lucknow Super Giants. The best he can do is play games in four games, although with a belly factor that keeps him sidelined. Still, Bharat had enough evidential quantity to accelerate him into his T20 side against Bangladesh the previous day, where he picked up four wickets from three games beyond persistently pushing the pace gun to the maximum 140 kmph.
“Mayank has obviously shown what he can do, but we want to be very careful with him, he has had a lot of injuries in the past,” Rohit said. “So we want him to progress, not quickly, we just want to see each day how he feels.
“We’re trying to build up his red-ball workloads. He hasn’t done any build-up of red-ball cricket. So for us, it’s notable that we struggle and create them regularly, rather than just getting them into world cricket. immediate.
“The T20 format is such that you can get a lot of these guys together and see what they are capable of and if they can handle the international exposure. But Test cricket is a different game. The pressure is different. You have to sustain yourself for five days, that’s the most important thing. So we’re trying to monitor them and see, you know, what they can offer us.”
“He has always been a part of that leadership group and also one of the experienced players,” Rohit said of Bumrah. “He’s played a lot of cricket and I’ve played a lot of cricket with him. He understands the game quite well. He’s got a good head on his shoulders.
“Tactically, I can’t say much because he’s not captain much anymore. However, when you talk to him, he understands the sport. He understands what it takes. If you find yourself in a situation where you want to have a leader to move forward, I think Bumrah will be one of them. Meanwhile, he has always been on our leadership team.
“So it’s probably the right thing to do to have him around and talk to the pitchers and discuss internally how to move the team forward.”
“It all depends on the current conditions. Even today it has rained a lot. The field is under the covers. So we want to take that call when we come here tomorrow morning,” Rohit said. “And again, it depends from match to match, what kind of pitch we play on. Based on that, we want to decide what our best XI will be. We keep our options open to play with three seamers and three spinners as well.”
Ashish Pant is Deputy Editor of ESPNcricinfo
