MSK Prasad assigns KL Rahul the number 4th spot in the order, opens up on Rishabh Pant

After a sensational triumph over the Sri Lankans in the Test series, the Indians are set to lock horns with the Lions in a 5 match ODI series. The team will see quite a few changes when India shifts to the coloured jersey from the plain white one. While some big guns in the name of Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin has been given a much-deserved rest, it has opened the gap for some promising youngsters to prove their mettle.

India Chief selector, MSK Prasad mentioned that the team has chalked out 22-24 players who will be given an opportunity to prove their worth in the upcoming 4-5 months. According to their performance, the board plans to filter out the best players who will be trained and groomed for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.

On the team for the 2019 World Cup:

“We have identified some set of players who will be considered for the next 4-5 months and we will rotate them.” said Prasad. “We have initiated this process of rotating and resting our main players, so we will see how some of these youngsters do over the next few months or so, and then we will take a call by the end of the year,” he added.

Prasad continued “We have 22 to 24-25 players in mind. We will be rotating them and we will see how they progress. After a certain period of time, we will keep on shortlisting so that we can focus on them at least eight months to one year leading up to the World Cup,”

On Lokesh Rahul:

Lokesh Rahul has been brilliant as far as the Test format is concerned but he will be now given an opportunity to develop himself as a limited overs player. Prasad mentioned that Rahul will be tested at the number 4 position in the upcoming Sri Lanka games. Though Rahul is a specialised opener, the Rohit Sharma-Shikhar Dhawan combination which was a major hit in the ICC Champions Trophy will force him down the order.

“We are going to try out KL Rahul at No. 4 in this series. He is too good a player to sit out. Because Shikhar and Rohit are in very good form, that’s what we saw in the Champions Trophy, we will start with KL in that particular order. These are different permutations and combinations we will keep trying till the end of this year and it will boil down to one particular pattern and then we will continue with that,” said Prasad.

On the fielding and fitness department:

According to the selector, it was very clear after the Champions Trophy that the Indian players need to work on their fitness. Prasad stated that the team is the number one in the world in terms of skill but when it comes to fitness they are behind a few others. The team will be going through fitness schedules and will need to improve their efforts on the field, Prasad opined.

“If I put my hand on my heart and say after the Champions Trophy, we felt that we need to be a fitter and a stronger side, we felt that we need to raise our fitness levels. We are trying to fix some fitness parameters and whoever it is has to strictly adhere to those parameters.”

“We have two to three phases in those parameters leading up to the 2019 World Cup and if someone fails to match to those parameters, he will not be considered irrespective of whoever it is,” said Prasad.

“In skill-level, we are number one in the world, but when it comes to fitness, we need to raise our standards. The players sat with the selectors and fixed certain parameters as benchmark. This is the fitness parameter, this is the body texture, etc.”

“You will get an official release on that because it is the BCCI who has to give. But we have fixed those parameters.” he added.

On Rishabh Pant:

Speaking about Rishabh Pant who did not make it to the squad, Prasad said that Pant has been performing only in the T20 format. He cited the example of Hardik Pandya, Prasad mentioned that a player will be tried out in his comfort zone at first. The players will slowly be shifted and tried out in the other formats.

“We all know Rishab Pant more as a Twenty20 player, so we will look at him in that format also. From the beginning we have been saying, see for instance Hardik Pandya, we picked him because he was a Twenty20 specialist, the more T20s and ODIs, he started playing, the more he has progressed to the Test format also. Similarly, whoever is comfortable in one particular format, we will bring them into that format, nurture them, and see that they go onto play the other formats,”