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India's recent performances against spin bowling has raised a lot of eyebrows over the credibility of Indian players. Some cricket pundits and experts have even rated this Indian setup as the worst player of spin but one formidable player of spin Gautam Gambhir feels that the two stalwarts of Indian cricket will play a huge role in India's World Cup campaign at home.
"I feel people like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and all those guys who can anchor their innings, who probably can play spin well will play a massive role in the coming World Cup." said the 2011 world cup winner.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir feels seniors like skipper Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be key for India heading into the World Cup. He also feels that the management needs to identify fearless players who can take the game on to the opposition. He said - "First, you need to identify the players who got that fearless approach, and probably in a format like 50 overs you need to have a mixture of every kind of player. Some players can anchor their innings. Change in the role has also made a huge difference."
With the change in the new ball rule, the game has become in favour of the batsman, and that's the biggest reason why even 300 is not considered a par score. Emphasising the same the southpaw said - "During that time we had only one new ball, now we've got two new balls with five fielders inside. So, the role of a part-timer has gone out of the window. The reverse swings, you don't see enough of reverse swings anymore, you don't see enough of a chase for the finger spinners as well."
Ever since the Asia Cup exit, coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma have been vocal about having a template or working towards an aggressive approach but consistent failures have even raised questions over the same template. the cricketer turned politician said - "But, I always feel that when we talk about this new approach, which India always talks about, the template and stuff, you've got to identify players who can adapt those roles or that template very easily." on India replicating England's approach in white ball cricket.
With so many injuries affecting the Indian camp, the core has hardly played together which eventually lead to India's poor run in ICC tournaments. "I think the biggest mistake that Indian cricket has made in the last two World Cups has been that these guys have not played enough of cricket together. Tell me how many times have we got the best playing 11 on the park? We haven't, only during the World Cup we decided to have the best playing 11, but unfortunately, that was never the best playing 11," he said.
With the IPL approaching the main focus of all the Indian players would be that. But with the World Cup coming a few months down the lane should players prioritise 50 over cricket over T20s? To answer the same, Gautam Gambhir said - "So these guys have to play enough of white-ball cricket, especially for the 50 overs World Cup together irrespective of whether they want to take a break from the T20 or the IPL. But the break has to happen in the T20 format and not the 50 overs. If the franchisee has to suffer they have to suffer. Indian cricket is the main stakeholder, not the IPL. IPL is just a by-product. So, if India goes out and wins the World Cup, that is the bigger ovation, that is the bigger ring,"
"...if an important player does miss the IPL games so be it because IPL happens every year and the World Cup happens only once in four years. So, for me, I think winning the World Cup is far more important than winning the IPL," Gambhir concluded.
