Don't believe in this red-ball, white-ball concept, every player must play all three formats: Dilip Vengsarkar

The former BCCI chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar feels that having a lot of bench strength is a good headache to have as it shows the potential of talent in the country.

Vengsarkar opened up about his thoughts on format specialist players wherein he stated that every Indian player should play in all the formats. He opined that the players need to fight for their spots in all formats and their availability must be judged depending on what the conditions behold.

The former India captain is renowned for possessing an eye to hunt talents and thus, every opinion coming from him might just be pearls of wisdom for the youngsters who are in the race to make it big.

“I don’t believe in this red-ball and white-ball concept. Whatever is there, you just have to play. I don’t think anybody is good in red-ball cricket and bad in white-ball or vice-versa. When it comes to India, every player must and needs to play all three formats,” he said in an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times.

“Also, the longer format is the ultimate form of the game. And of course, ODIs and T20Is are equally important but it’s important that the ICC or the BCCI must see to it that the longer format is healthy,” he added.

Cricket is all about opportunities: Dilip Vengsarkar

With the second-string team traveling to Sri Lanka the series was already highly anticipated. The India side has a good mix of young and experienced players and this series followed by the IPL could possibly solve a lot of puzzles for the spots in team India. If India takes a lead in the series the youngsters might chime in for the final game and that would be a great opportunity for them.

Vengsarkar, thus, stated that one must grab every opportunity as there is very little time ahead of the World Cup. He also pinned up his hopes on the young players on the side to have a good outing.

“I want everybody to perform. Cricket is all about opportunities and all these youngsters must grab it themselves. Not only Shikhar, but also guys like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw, and all the guys that have been picked in the squad because there is going to be a lot of competition not only for the opening slot but all the positions in the team. It’s always good to have options and whoever does well, I’m sure will get his due”