India captain Rohit Sharma on Thursday said the team management was crystal clear about picking as many as four spinners for the T20 World Cup in the Americas, asserting that IPL had very little role to play in deciding the final 15.
India have picked four spinners and three pacers in the squad, a move that has attracted diverse views. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal are the two wrist spinners while Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are the all-rounders who bowl left-arm spin.
"I don't want to go into details on this. I definitely wanted four spinners. We have played a lot of cricket there (West Indies), we know how the conditions are like,” Rohit said in a press conference to address queries on the squad selection here.
Rohit indicated how morning matches and slower tracks in Guyana and Antigua will help the slower bowlers.
“The matches start at 10 am in the morning. There is a technical aspect involved in this. The reason for picking four spinners is something I won't reveal now. But I will definitely say it there what is the reason behind it,” Rohit said.
“With two spinners being all-rounders like Axar and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja), and then the two attacking spinners, Kuldeep and Chahal, (it) gives you a little bit of balance in your spin department as well. Based on opposition, we can decide who to play," added the skipper.
The India squad was picked on Tuesday and Rohit said a lot of attention was given to the team's needs in the middle overs. Shivam Dube was picked ahead of Rinku Singh and that too divided opinions.
"We've got to understand what the pitches will be like and the opposition composition. One thing we really looked at is our middle overs hitting. Our top order hitting has been alright, it has not been bad.
"There are other options there as well. We picked a guy based on his performance in the IPL and few games he played for India. There is no guarantee what our playing eleven will look like," he said referring to Dube.
The captain added that the he had figured out 70 to 80 per cent of the squad before the IPL and just like chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, he also said that performance in one tournament can't be parameter for deciding the composition of the squad.
"The talk of what are final 15 is going to be started much before IPL. It is just few spots we had to look in the IPL. In IPL performances changes everyday. Anyone will come and score a hundred or to take five wickets. We knew 70-80 percent of our squad (before the IPL)," he said.
Rohit said all-rounders Dube and Hardik Pandya will be expected to perform their roles completely.
The Indian skipper also explained the reason behind not having a specialist off-spinner citing that Washington Sundar has not been getting opportunities lately.
“Unfortunately Washy (Washington Sundar) has not been getting opportunities lately. Then it was between Ash (Ravichandran Ashwin) and Axar, we thought having two left-arm spinners who are playing and doing well, and Ashwin has not played the format for a long time.
“Axar was just in real good form from (post) the 50-overs World Cup onwards when he played the five-match series against Australia, he was the man of the series if I am not wrong. We also considered that it gives us that left-handed option if we have to send in the middle order to do something different,” he concluded.
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