Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has voiced concerns about Gautam Gambhir’s team selection process, citing that India’s emphasis on all-rounders, “bits-and-pieces”, can negatively impact the team’s performance ahead of the upcoming ODI World Cup in 2027.
After India lost their ODI Series to England, Ashwin said that Gambhir’s approach was similar to that of former head coach Rahul Dravid, adding that the difficulties faced by the Indian team in the 2023 ODI World Cup were no repeal of the issues Hardik Pandya suffered, but it was clear that the team remained stable in every situation.
Ashwin added that Hardik is still regarded as the most important pace bowler in the team and we have to have a reliable bat and bowler. He said he is looking at Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube and other such players; but they are not consistent and are in no position to be a secure option.
Ashwin said that Dravid’s management had played it smart when it came to Hardik’s absence in 2023 as they had completely refrained from looking for the same opposite-model option and instead, supported a stable five-piece setup which boosted India to the World Cup final.
He claimed that the present arrangement seems to have given an edge to the search for multi-skilled cricketers rather than search for specialist match-winners, which he claimed playing a factor behind India’s weaknesses in Test cricket.
Experiencing all-rounders every time is not a solution; India should have a core group of 17-18 players and support them consistently in the coming 14 months, Ashwin said.
Handicap flexibility he said, “built on the basis of clarity of roles, stability and specialists are the basis of World Cup winning sides.