Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri believes there were a lot of positives for India despite their 1-0 series against New Zealand. The third ODI was called off at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Wednesday as rain once again played spoilsport.
Shastri believes the performances of players like Shubman Gill, Umran Malik, Shreyas Iyer, and Washington Sundar were positives for the team. Gill returned with scores of 50, 45*, and 13 while Iyer scored 129 runs in two innings.
Malik took three wickets in three matches whereas Washington Sundar scored a fine fifty in the third game. Sundar also scored a quickfire knock of 37 runs in the first ODI.
“I think a lot of positives came from this one-day series,” Shastri said while speaking on Prime Video. “Shreyas Iyer getting runs in a couple of matches, willing to stay there and willing to go through the tough period. Suryakumar of course has the potential, has the talent, and he will deliver.
“Washington Sundar, I thought was very good. And even Umran Malik, I like the way he bowled. There’s potential there. If he can persevere, it will be very good. All around, there was very positive Shubman Gill at the start of the innings,” he continued.
“These conditions are tough, you don’t get these conditions often, and you don’t travel to New Zealand that often. So I think for young cricketers to come here and get this kind of exposure is excellent. The weather and the ground dimensions need to be taken into account.”
India’s performance was not up to the mark as a unit in the ODI series and they will look to turn the corner against Bangladesh.
The first ODI between India and Bangladesh will be played on 4th December.
India’s squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul (vice-capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen.
