“You should have sent India ‘A’ team”, Salman Butt on Indian Team resting senior player ahead of World Cup.

According to Salman Butt, the former Pakistan captain, India’s decision to include experienced players in their ODI squad for the West Indies series, only to leave them out of the playing XI, was questionable. Butt expressed his opinion that the selectors should have instead named a second-string side, allowing the senior members to rest after the two-match Test series. He shared his views on his YouTube channel, suggesting that India should focus on identifying a stable squad of 15 players for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup rather than constantly making changes.

Butt also pointed out that the Indian batsmen need to improve their game against spinners. Notably, India comfortably won the ODI series opener, easily chasing down a modest target of 115 runs. However, following the victory, the team decided to rest skipper Rohit Sharma and star batsman Virat Kohli for the remaining two matches.

Salman Butt said “If it was about resting the senior players, or trying different combinations, you should have sent India ‘A’ team. In that case, all the main players would have got time to rest after the Test series. When you have Ravindra Jadeja and a few other experienced batters, you cannot call this an inexperienced team. These batters have double centuries in ODI cricket and big scores under their belt in Tests and IPL as well.”

Moreover he added “If you were to analyse the game as an expert, it seemed as if they don’t care about the results. The other thing is that they were traditionally very good players of spin bowling. However, that control against spinners has been missing. Also, making frequent changes to the team for every tour should stop. It is about time that India knew who their 15 players were for the World Cup.”