- 5 months ago
Speaking after announcing India's Asia Cup 2025 squad, selection committee chairman Ajit Agarkar and captain Suryakumar Yadav explained the selection calls. Shubman Gill returned to the 15-man squad as vice-captain while Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal were dropped.
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00:00Surakumar Yadav Captain, Shubban Gil Vice Captain, Abhishek Sharma, Tidak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Sriram Dubey, Akshar Patel, Jitesh Sharma, Jaspreet Bumra, Garun Chakravarti,
00:26Arjdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson, Harshit Rana and Rinku Singh.
00:56My question to Captain Surya, with Killing the playing, with Killing the playing in the squad, how do you fit him in? Because he has a top-order quality pattern, how do you fit him in?
01:06Abhi dekho, Mere Saab se, jab last time when he played T20 for India, post-T20 World Cup, when we went to Sri Lanka not Zimbabwe,
01:16we started there, when I was leading, he was Vice Captain, he started, so that's where we started a new cycle for T20 World Cup,
01:23after that he got busy with all the test series, and he didn't have any opportunity for us to play T20 because he was busy playing test cricket,
01:31and more of a Champions Trophy I guess, before England T20, so he is there in the squad and we are happy to have him.
01:39Shai. Hi, my question is to the chairman of Kishnamurti. Obviously, Bumarai's included in the thing, I don't mean that CB2 said that he'd be monitored as a lot of time to move forward,
01:55what is the plan that we have a roadmap for him, do we see him across forward or do you want to just make him, what's the plan?
02:04I mean, I don't think there is any sort of written plan at the moment, obviously there has been a nice break after the England series as well,
02:13the team management or the physios or the people concerned are always in touch, it's not just now, even before his injury we have tried to look after him,
02:22because we know how valuable he is, clearly we want him available for all the big games, I know international cricket every game is a big game,
02:30but there are World Cups, there are Champions Trophies or big series like England or Australia where you want him available all the time,
02:38so most fast bowlers are monitored, and yes, because he has picked up an injury over the last 2 or 3 years, there is extra care taken on how unique and how special he is,
02:48and it won't change, it won't change whether it is this series or maybe the next 6 months, as we go along, how he is feeling,
02:57how when we require him as a team, which is probably the most important thing, and along with the physios and the trainers,
03:06those things are monitored anyways, but we hope that he is available more often than not.
03:11I think this is the first big tournament which we are playing after that T20 World Cup, we played 3-4 bilateral series,
03:26but it's a good tournament to test ourselves, and there are a lot of T20s, I think close to 20-22 T20s in total before we play our first game in the World Cup,
03:36so I think the journey starts from the Asia Cup.
03:41Yeah, I mean it's the same, I think it's already answered the question, the preparation obviously, we had a little bit of an idea after the last World Cup which way we are going to go,
03:51but as we get closer, you know, you know who your 16, 17, 18 guys are, where, and you want to try and give them the best possible opportunity to be in the best form going into the World Cup,
04:03so, yeah, it starts now, and you know these next few months are going to be the best possible opportunity to be in the best form going into the World Cup,
04:17so, yeah, it starts now, and you know these next few months are going to fly by with lots of cricket coming thick and fast.
04:24Ajit, if both of you could answer this, the reason we had the exclusion of Shreya Sayer and Eshya Svi Jaiswar,
04:31who have done well in red ball cricket previously, and Shubhaman gives vice-captaincy in this format,
04:37and the test captaincy, does it point to the day when we see him captain in all the formats per game?
04:42Maybe when you should take that.
04:44I mean, I can discuss with you right now T20 cricket, and test cricket is already leading,
04:51and like Surya mentioned, he was vice-captain the last time he played T20 cricket for India,
04:56so, we obviously see some leadership qualities in him, and you know, his form in England was what we were hoping for,
05:04obviously exceeded all expectations with the kind of form that he showed with his back, which is a great sign when there is so much pressure on you as a captain.
05:15So, like I said, I can only talk about T20 cricket right now and test cricket.
05:19With regards to Eshya Svi, I mean, it's just unfortunate again.
05:24You know, there's Abhishek Sharma, what he's done over the last few months or a year or so that he's been in the team,
05:31plus that he can bowl a little bit gives us an option, if required, by the captain.
05:37One of these guys was always going to miss out.
05:40It's just unfortunate that Eshya Svi might have to wait for his chance.
05:45With regards to Shreyas, I mean, you'll have to tell me who he can replace here.
05:51Again, no fault of his, nor is it ours.
05:54It's just that you can pick 15 and at the moment he'll have to wait for his chance.
05:58I mean, you'd hope with 20 games left that you have a fair idea of who your guys are going to be.
06:23If not, then we're in trouble.
06:24I mean, after every World Cup, whether it's a 50-year World Cup or a T20,
06:30you try and plan for the next one with a reasonable idea of whether it's 20 or 25,
06:37whatever that squad is and eventually trim it down to the squad as close as you can get.
06:43With what, 22 games now we play before we start, so we have a fair idea.
06:49Again, injuries and form could dictate a little bit.
06:52There might be changes which, you know, there are no guarantees.
06:56But in general, because there's a World Cup around the corner,
06:59you will always know who your best, at least 18 or 20 guys are to pick from.
07:04And yeah, I think you've got some serious options in that T20 squad.
07:10Can I have a question about availability? Was anyone specifically not considered to do medical issues?
07:22And did anyone really keep themselves unavailable or in any situation?
07:27In this squad?
07:29Yeah.
07:30No, at the moment no one's missing because of injury.
07:33No, I can't think of anyone missing because of injury.
07:35We're quite happy with the 15 that we picked.
07:37Everyone's available fit that we wanted to pick.
07:39So yeah, one year into the captain, how do you think you have grown as a captain?
07:53And is it the more challenging assignment, do you think, given the backdrop and how the
08:00team has grown as a captain?
08:02Well, I think it's a good competitive tournament.
08:06And over the last year, there has been a few challenges.
08:09Every game you play is a challenge.
08:11Every series you play, it's a different challenge.
08:13And with all such lovely players around, with amazing skill, I think it gets my job very easy.
08:21On the ground, off the field, I see them practice hard.
08:24I think it gets easier.
08:26So, I mean, it is a challenge.
08:29But yeah, at the same time, it's a great feeling.
08:32Yeah, Ajit, was someone like, was he in the scheme of things at all?
08:45Yeah, for sure.
08:46I think he'll always be in the scheme of things.
08:47I mean, this is not the final squad for the World Cup.
08:50At the moment, we have three spinners in the squad.
08:54Two mystery spinners or wrist spinners in Varun and Kuldeep.
09:00And Akshar, obviously, has been around for a while.
09:02So, whether we need four spinners, he might always come into the equation if and when that happens.
09:09At the moment, we thought Rinku is the spare batsman that we might need.
09:12Obviously, Sanju and Jitesh are the two keepers who are bad at different positions.
09:17But yeah, we just thought Rinku might be the extra batter that we might require.
09:21And we poorly picked 15.
09:23If there was 16, he might have been.
09:25What has happened since Jan 24, the performance for India rather than the two IPL sets?
09:35Sorry, I didn't get the question.
09:37The performance for India has been taken into account much more than the IPL.
09:41These guys all perform well in the IPL as well.
09:44So, it's not like we don't look at the IPL.
09:46When you pick a T20 squad, of course, you look at IPL performances as well.
09:50Clearly, a lot more, because there have been overlapping series,
09:55there have been a lot more people who have ended up playing T20 cricket
09:58when the guys who were playing test cricket were part of the T20 squad were not available.
10:04That doesn't take anything away from them as T20 players.
10:07It's just one of those things you end up using.
10:10Like Surya as well said, we've got so many options as far as T20 is concerned
10:15that sometimes it's not the easiest squad to pick.
10:17It's a good headache to have.
10:19But we kind of know who gives us the best balance.
10:22And then eventually, it's good because there's so much competition
10:26that the guys who are picked will always be on their toes to keep performing,
10:29which only will help the captain and the team.
10:32I think we are quite happy with the 15 that we've picked here.
10:39It's not just India or just IPL.
10:42Of course, IPL performances when it comes to T20, we keep a close watch on it.
10:47Do you have standbys?
10:50Yeah, we've got five standbys.
10:53Prasit Krishna, Washington Sundar, Riyan Parad, Dhruv Jurel.
11:01And Jaiswal.
11:02And Jaiswal.
11:03And Jaiswal.
11:04Jaiswal.
11:05Jaiswal.
11:06Jaiswal.
11:07Are you considering that Abhishek and Sanjeev have been banding together in twice a quarter
11:11series and done reasonably well, was Shurman an automatic fit once he was available again
11:16in particular, think long and hard.
11:18And a question to Surya.
11:19Just on bowling, quite frequently you've used the extra spinner in the previous series.
11:24Is that something that you think is a force in this format?
11:27Is it based on conditions to try and use the extra spinner in the playing level?
11:31No, I think what has been going on till now has been working.
11:40So it's better to stick to it and different situations whenever they arise in a game and
11:46that situation then we can take a call.
11:49If you want to have an extra seamer because we have a lot of options.
11:52We have fast bowlers.
11:53We have fast bowling all-rounders.
11:55We have batters who can bowl.
11:57Then 2-3 spinners as well.
11:58So whatever situation arises, take that call at that time.
12:02Sorry, I forgot the question.
12:04On Shubhman and whether it was, you know the development?
12:08I mean Sanju was playing because Shubhman and Yashish were not available at that point.
12:12So was Abhishek.
12:13I mean Abhishek's performances clearly make it hard to leave him out.
12:17Plus his bowling is handy.
12:19But like I said, he was vice captain the last time he played T20 cricket.
12:23That was after the last World Cup.
12:25So even at that point clearly we were thinking along those lines.
12:29And now that he's available, at least he has two options.
12:32Whether, you know, it's their edit to pick the batting lineup.
12:35Ours was to pick the 15.
12:37So, but like I said, we've got some real depth as far as T20 cricket is concerned.
12:42And we are very happy with it.
12:47Rajit, as you have said, Sanju was playing because Shubhman and Yashish were not available.
12:55But now that Shubhman is back, does he straight away fit into the playing level?
13:00And will there be a clue as far as the opening combination is concerned?
13:04I mean again, you know, the captain and the coach obviously will look at the conditions at that point.
13:09And perhaps take that call what's the best balance for the team.
13:13So the 11s, once we get to Dubai, we'll probably have a bit more of it.
13:19But like I said, there are more options now.
13:22And Shubhman has been, you know, in great form anyway over the last few months.
13:27But even when he's played T20 for India and so has Sanju.
13:31So two really good options to have along with Abhishek.
13:35When they get to Dubai and depending on who the opposition is and the conditions is,
13:39they'll probably look at it and decide what the best 11 is.
13:42So how impressed you are as he's playing this high-stakes competition.
14:10So how impressed you are about his recent performance in Dubai?
14:15Me or him?
14:17I think he's done really well.
14:23When he was picked for India, he did really well in the IPL.
14:27And the game which he played for India, I think remember that concussion replacement game in Pune.
14:33I still remember he got man of the match also.
14:35The last T20 which he's played for India, he's got MOM in that.
14:39And then after that he didn't get an opportunity.
14:42So we back his skill.
14:44He's got that skill for this T20 format and we know he can deliver.
14:48I am not sure when they are leaving but I think a lot of the guys are playing Dolib Trophy anyway.
14:55You know, so they'll, even though they are, some of the T20 guys are playing so they'll have some sort of cricket behind them.
15:02Guys who are in England have had a long two months in any case, those who are not part of it, it's been a longish break.
15:09But they've, a lot of them have been at the NCAA in any case, they might not have had any real competitive cricket with all the weather around.
15:18But hopefully all of them get that four day game and then you know you're up to speed usually.
15:24And T20 cricket plus they'll get 10 more days after that before we play the first game.
15:40So I'm not at the moment sure whether there's any time to have a camp.
15:45But they'll probably fly to Dubai a little bit earlier and maybe get a few practice sessions in as far as I am aware.
15:52I'm aware.
15:53Can you take the final question?
15:54So there, yeah.
15:55You know, just looking ahead with Ishak, there was a big game on the board in September, you played Pakistan.
16:04The other thing that's happened between the two countries in the last few months, how are you going to approach that game and what sort of mindset would just be on the game or the ground?
16:12We're very, very clear.
16:13If you have a question regarding the team selection, we can do it.
16:17Any more questions regarding the team selection?
16:19Yeah.
16:20This will be the final.
16:21Yeah.
16:22I have a question for the captain.
16:23Specifically with regard to Jitesh, especially in today's journey it's difficult to let a second chance.
16:28There's been control here that you're thinking too much about the last World Cup.
16:33What do you think has changed and who better than you to actually offer a piece of advice for the situation?
16:42I think post the last T20 World Cup, we spoke a lot on how to apply it.
16:50On how to approach, how to go about it.
16:52Then we spoke about, let's not think about the milestones ahead.
16:57Follow your journey.
16:59I think he's been a completely different cricketer post that he's taken one game at a time, all challenges slow and steady the way he did in the IPL and also in the domestic tournaments which he played.
17:11The T20s and the ODIs one day, I think he's done really well and he's earned his spot again.
17:18I think just one last question I want to ask.
17:20Like this break, normally you don't see the Indian team getting such a long break.
17:24Is this something that the players were keen on and you know, because it was not cricket
17:27and having just come off the Indian series.
17:29So, do the players want this break to sort of freshen up for the upcoming season?
17:34I mean, I didn't give them a break.
17:40It's just that there is no cricket at the moment.
17:43I mean, whether around this time, anywhere in India, apart from a couple of places, it's tough to play any cricket.
17:48I'm sure with the amount of cricket that is played by the team, every break is always welcome.
17:55It just gives you some, with such a high pressure series in England and a long one and became so close,
18:00every game going to the last session of the last day, except the last one.
18:05I'm sure the guys who at least were part of that series appreciate a break.
18:09The guys who haven't played for a while are all itching to play at this point.
18:12So, you can always be happy with any break.
18:16You don't get too many these days because once they start now, there's absolutely no time
18:21till what the next IPL ends, I think.
18:24So, I'm sure that they would have enjoyed a little bit of rest and it can only be good sometimes.
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