Team India faces a difficult task in filling the void that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have left in the T20Is. After leading the Men in Blue to the T20 World Cup victory in Barbados, the two Indian cricketing legends bid farewell to the shortest format. They decided to hand over the baton to the younger generation. With Kohli, Rohit, and Ravindra Jadeja retiring, an opportunity for young players to distinguish themselves in the Indian squad opened up. The transition phase began with the T20I series against Zimbabwe, led by young Shubman Gill.
Meanwhile, Men in Blue failed to have a good start as expected, suffering a surprise defeat in the series opener, with the inexperienced batters failing badly while chasing a low 116-run mark. However, the young brigade responded in style on Sunday, with a commanding 100-run victory thanks to a scorching century from young opener Abhishek Sharma.
Former Zimbabwe cricketer Hamilton Masakadza believes that replacing Kohli and Rohit will not be difficult for the selection committee because they have a big talent pool. It is a big void, difficult to replace such players. But then again, with India, the pool of players is so wide and there’s so much talent there. I’m sure India won’t struggle to find players to replace them. But yeah, to find players who can reach the levels that those three did is going to be really difficult, Masakadza told the Times of India.
Masakadza also named the two young India batters, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who have the talent and skill to be the apt replacements for Kohli and Rohit. I’m really looking forward to watching the growth and improvement, especially of Shubman Gill. I’ve watched a little bit of him in all three formats and I really love what I’ve seen. He’s one player who can really step up to replace the guys who are leaving, Yashasvi as well, he added.
The left-handed batter started brilliantly in his international career. So those are definitely a couple of players to look out for, players who can go a long way towards filling the huge void left by those world-class players, Masakadza concluded.
Meanwhile, Veteran Zimbabwe cricketer Andy Flower also stated that, as India enters the transition phase, the rivalry between Jaiswal and Abhishek for the opening spot is the one that everyone is looking forward to. This type of competition is great for the Indian game, Flower said.
