Outgoing chief selector MSK Prasad name India’s finest batsmen, bowlers in reserves

His run as India’s chief selector is set to meet its end but MSK Prasad believes he and his team have left a core team that will go a long way to serve Indian cricket. The former India wicketkeeper named a set of players who form the current bench strength of the national team. Prasad’s tenure will end with one of the selectors Gagan Khoda while those of the other three — Jatin Paranjpe, Sarandeep Singh and Devang Gandhi still have a year left in their respective tenures but they are unlikely to be retained.

When Prasad was asked to highlight his picks as the standout batting and bowling reserves his team focused on, he chose to name quite a few names. Talking about the batting bench strength, the 44-year-old picked four — two of whom are on the comeback trail while the rest were the leading scorers in the domestic circuit last season. These four are KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyanka Panchal.

“If you take the case of openers, now with Rohit (Sharma) stepping up, you have Rohit, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Priyank Panchal. On any given day, any of these guys can open for India. That’s how we have groomed them from a systematic process through India A tours,” Prasad was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Rahul lost his place in the Test side after the Caribbean tour last year but has been in magnificent form in the limited-overs. Shaw has made a good comeback into cricket after remaining sidelined by injury and serving a doping-related suspension. He hit a double ton in the Ranji Trophy recently after playing well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Easwaran and Panchal have been in great touch in the Ranji.

MSK Prasad name six back-up bowlers

In bowling, Prasad named six players who are in the reserves even as the frontline ones — including Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma are doing a great job, especially in the long format.

“Talking of fast bowling back-ups, we have Navdeep Saini, Avesh Khan, Basil Thampi, Sandeep Warrier, Ishan Porel and Mohammed Siraj. So, there is a bench for every slot. I am sure this will pave the way and strengthen the Indian team across all formats,” Prasad added.