After India 0-3 loss in the one-day international series to South Africa, a lot has been spoken about the way India play and approach both the white-ball formats. The team's dependence on it's top order for the bulk of the runs and lack of wickets in the powerplay overs at the start of the innings are of concern as head coach Rahul Dravid tried to create a pool of players he could choose from for the T20 World Cup later this year and the 50-over World Cup in 2023.
India's next assignment is at home against West Indies, where they will play a three-match ODI series, followed by a three-match T20I series. The squads for both these series were announced on Wednesday. Ravindra Jadeja is still unavailable as he recovers from injury while Hardik Pandya it seems is still not fit to bowl.
In the pace department, both Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been rested. For the ODIs the selectors have gone in with Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj and Avesh Khan.
While the impressive Harshal Patel has been included for the T20I series, along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Bhuvi has been axed from the ODI squad after two terrible outings in South Africa.
White-ball captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid will be looking to zero in on the players who can contribute in limited overs cricket, and Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik has suggested the name of a young pacer, who has impressed one and all with his performances in the Indian Premier League.
Karthik, who has been part of the Kolkata Knight Riders team in IPL till last season, wants Dravid to invest in Shivam Mavi and explained his reasons during a conversation with eminent cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle and host Gaurav Kapur on Cricbuzz.
"Another name that will definitely help Indian cricket is Shivam Mavi...you need someone who can bring the ball back in and he bowls 140-plus. It is sad that he is playing for a state like UP where sometimes you have so many fast bowlers, they have Bhuvi, they have Yash Dayal, then there is Shivam Mavi and I can give the entire list. So, sometimes he (Mavi) bowls first change, but he is a proper new ball bowler who can pick wickets.
"He has the ability to swing the ball late and if you see in the IPL, he has got good batsmen out. He has a bit of pace, terrific fielder and can bat a bit. These are the kind of guys I would love for Rahul Dravid to invest in because he has seen him first up," Karthik opined.
The ODI series between India and West Indies begin from February 6th.