“Completely useless thought” – Gautam Gambhir doesn’t agree with Ravi Shastri’s opinion of having three left-handers in Indian XI in Asia Cup and World Cup.

Former Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir recently provided his perspective regarding Ravi Shastri’s proposal to include three left-handed batsmen in India’s batting lineup for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2023.

While Gambhir refrained from explicitly mentioning Shastri, he criticized the notion of prioritizing left-handed batters, deeming it impractical. Gambhir stressed the significance of prioritizing player quality over mere left-handedness.

Gambhir said “It is not important whether he is a left-hander or a right-hander. The debate that is going on that we need three left-handers is a completely useless thought. You look at the quality of the player and not how many left-handers you have. A good player whether a right-hander or left-hander will play well in every condition.”

It is worth noting that in a prelude to the announcement of India’s squad for the Asia Cup 2023, Ravi Shastri had expressed his belief that the Indian team should contemplate incorporating three left-handed batsmen within the top seven positions.

Gambhir added “There are three other positions where I think two left-handers have to come in. If you have persisted with Ishan Kishan for the last six to eight months, and he’s going to keep wickets, he comes in, in any case. But, get two left-handers. Including Jaddu, there should be three left-handers in the top seven.”