Virat Kohli should give consistent run to the Indian youngsters: Sourav Ganguly

India started their campaign in the World Test Championship (WTC) just after the conclusion of 2019 World Cup held in England. After winning series in all the formats in the West Indies, now India is heading for a three-match T20I and Test series against South Africa, but the selection of the team has not impressed former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly.

In the last few months, the combination of the side and squad has been put up in question. During the tour of the Caribbean, the decision to leave Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing eleven left everyone surprised. The retired Indian captain thinks the youngsters in the Indian team should be given consistent opportunities.

I was surprised to see Kuldeep Yadav left out

In the near future, it will be the youngsters that will take the Indian team forward. Shreyas Iyer scored a couple of match-winning fifties and as per Ganguly, other players should also get adequate chances to show their mettle. “Virat needs to just be a bit more consistent— pick players and give them a bit more consistent opportunities — for them to get that confidence, rhythm, I have said that before.

You saw how Shreyas Iyer played in that ODI series (against West Indies), you pick him and you give him the freedom to play those matches and I think that needs to happen with a lot of players and I am sure Virat will do that,” Ganguly was quoted as saying in The Times of India (TOI).

“I was surprised to see Kuldeep Yadav left out because the last Test he played against Australia, he got five wickets in Sydney on a good flat pitch. But Jadeja also has been in good form, the surface yesterday at Antigua needed three fast bowlers because we saw the seam movement the fast bowlers got and it was a question of the spin,” Ganguly added

The former veteran cricketer thinks that the Indian team has some bright prospects in the bowling as well in the batting department, but their maturity will define the near future. Ganguly put forth Jasprit Bumrah’s abilities and how the speedster has emerged since his debut in 2016.

“The bowling department has some bright prospects. Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini look promising; and India need to look after them so that they develop the way (Jasprit) Bumrah has,” he stated.

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