Former wicketkeeper Saba Karim says while debates over who is India’s No. 4 player are going on, it is the top-order players who are missing, fix them first.
Saba Karim says top order should play well both in Asia Cup and World Cup only then the Indian team can shine in the World Cup. Once Mohammad Amir had Pakistan beat India’s top-order out of bat, Shahin Afridi once failed to beat the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the T20 World Cup.
After Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult have battered the Indian top order, the Indian team has lost all those matches. This is what Saba Karim has rightly pointed out.
In an interview for Geo Cinema, Saba Karim said:
The top order is the Indian team’s greatest strength. But success lies in how we act. As far as I have seen, India’s top order is losing in big matches, important matches or ICC series.
So that is the lesson for Indian team to learn. So if India is to thrive in the upcoming Asia Cup and World Cup, the top order needs to perform well. They should score well on a regular basis especially in big matches.
So the top 3 or 4 players including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli need to rise in a big way. They have a lot of experience. We have made Shubman Gill an all-rounder. This is the best opportunity for him to get a permanent place in the Indian team, so he should use the opportunities effectively.
Gil is the most important player. Because Rohit Sharma will bowl slowly in the beginning and then he will start to shine. Subman Gil has to maintain the run rate in those moments. Sometimes Rohit Sharma plays attacking cricket right from the start. It’s a risky thing.
But the important thing is that Rohit Sharma should stand and swing till the end in the Asia Cup and the World Cup. So there is a heavy load on Shubman Gill. The way he plays has created many expectations. So these are important series for him.
Thus says Saba Karim. The Indian team will play the first match of the Asia Cup cricket series against Pakistan at Pallekile Stadium in Sri Lanka on September 2.
What Saba Karim says is very important. Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, etc., while talking about the weaknesses of the middle order, should also talk about the weaknesses of the top order. At this level Saba Karim points out something important.
