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Rohit Sharma (left) and Virat Kohli.© AFP
The Indian cricket team were completely outplayed by West Indies as they slumped to a six-wicket loss in the second ODI match in Barbados. The visitors decided to rest both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after winning the first match of the series but their batters were unable perform on Saturday as India were all out for just 181. Former Pakistan opener Salman Butt believes that the current India team lacks players who can ideally replace Rohit or Virat at present and he had an interesting solution to the problem. Butt said that India can experiment with the opening pair of Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan with Rohit and Kohli coming at No.3 and No.4 respectively.
“Clearly, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma didn’t play so everyone was on their own. They missed the duo’s presence. Earlier, when the likes of Dhoni and other main players were rested, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir or Yuvraj Singh would take care of the batting in their absence. But the current players haven’t been able to establish themselves in ODI cricket. Before the World Cup, they have to sort it out,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
“I think the way ODIs are played, if the new players aren’t able to perform on frequent basis, maybe you can have Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill opening, and maybe Rohit Sharma can come one down with Virat Kohli at 4. Then you can have Suryakumar and other players like KL Rahul. There are 3-4 players in this team who play in the opening role, and when they came down, the output isn’t the same,” he further said.
West Indies left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and seamer Romario Shepherd claimed three wickets each as India tumbled after an opening stand of 90 between Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill in the second ODI.
(With AFP inputs)
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