Irfan Pathan recommends that Team India should make finding the right leaders to step into Rohit Sharma’s shoes in 2024 a priority.
Rohit Sharma guided India to the ODI World Cup final in 2023 and presently commands the team in the two-game Test series against South Africa. We’re not sure if the experienced opener will carry on captaining the Men in Blue in white-ball cricket onward, especially in the T20 World Cup later this year.
In a Star Sports speech, Pathan expressed the opinion that one of India’s 2024 priorities should be identifying Rohit’s successor as leader. He clarified:
“There are chances of a lot of changes in 2024. So if we prepare two or three leaders, we won’t have too many problems. The focus should also be on which leaders you will prepare. The Indian team performed amazingly well for five years under Virat Kohli’s leadership in Test cricket.”
The former India all-rounder added:
“They reached the No. 1 ranking. His fitness was fantastic. He performed well in every match and extracted performance from the team in every match. Rohit Sharma also got the team to perform amazingly well. We saw it in the World Cup and he won the Asia Cup but who after Rohit Sharma?”
Pathan emphasized the necessity for the Indian think tank to identify leaders who can play cricket all year round. As is expected of young athletes, he said, fitness should come first.
Irfan Pathan urges India to strengthen fast-bowling unit after missing Mohammed Shami
Irfan Pathan thinks the Indian squad should also concentrate on developing fast-bowling backups. He thought to himself:
“I personally feel the Indian team needs to prepare a good fast-bowling unit in 2024. We saw what happened in South Africa. We didn’t have very good fully ready backups for fast bowlers. It’s not that they don’t have quality but they weren’t ready, so you felt Mohammed Shami’s absence.”
Irfan Pathan
The former cricket player who is now a broadcaster emphasized that if Jasprit Bumrah is declared hors de battle, the Indian squad will be in serious difficulty. He declared:
“It means, God forbid, if something happens to Jasprit Bumrah, we have seen him getting injured earlier because of his action, we will look left and right and we won’t get quality bowlers like that.”
Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan went on to say that seven or eight fast bowlers should be ready, either by concentrating heavily on the Ranji Trophy or by conducting a talent hunt.
He said that maintaining a group of seamers ready needs to be the main focus area, even if he acknowledged that the Indian Premier League aids in finding potential and that the BCCI (Board of Control for Control in India) works closely with the National Cricket Academy behind the scenes.