“If they had allowed Virat Kohli to continue as captain…”: Ex-Pakistan wicketkeeper’s big statement on India’s WC preparation

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 17 (ANI): Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has said had India persisted with Virat Kohli as their captain, they would have been fully prepared for the ICC Cricket World Cup, which will be held in India from October 5 to November 19. 

Even as India prepares for the showpiece event on home soil, the national selectors and the team management are sweating over the fitness and availability of some key players including Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant, who are sidelined with injuries. While pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has returned to lead the team in the T20I series against Ireland after a long lay-off with injury, his participation in the prestigious event is far from certain.

Further, in a bid to give young or non-regular players such as Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, and Suryakumar Yadav more exposure in 50-over internationals, seniors like batting talisman Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma were rested during the recently-concluded ODI series against West Indies.

Their absence from the 50-over squad, missing out on valuable game time ahead of the World Cup, drew criticism from fans.

With the World Cup coming and the status of key players not entirely clear, many fans fear that the hosts might go into the high-stakes event with a team lacking in experience.

In an interview with a Youtube Channel on Wednesday, Latif said, “If they had allowed Virat Kohli to continue as captain, India would have been 100 per cent prepared for the World Cup by this time.”

Virat led India in 95 ODIs, winning 65, losing 27, and tying 1 while 2 ended with no results. He had a solid win percentage of 68.42 as skipper.

Latif, who also featured in the 1996 and 2003 World Cups for Pakistan, said India was struggling because of their team selection and not allowing new players to settle contributed to their 2-3 T20I series loss to West Indies. 

“Indian team management has experimented with several players and if I talk about their batting, the middle and lower order — from numbers 4 to 7 — they just have not allowed any new player to settle down. There have been too many changes,” he said. 

He added that the dependence on injured seniors such as KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer might be “risky” going into the World Cup.

“I would say it is risky because KL and Iyer are returning from injuries,” he added. 

Latif said that Asian sides will struggle against the likes of England, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in middle overs, as the batters from these countries can employ strokes such as sweep, and reverse sweep against spinners to good effect during the tournament. 

“The one area where I feel Asian teams will struggle to match these sides are particularly in the middle overs when a faster strike rate is required even in 50-over cricket,” said Latif. 

“The English, Australian and New Zealand batters have turned to reverse sweep and switch shots against the spinners into something very lethal nowadays,” he added. 

He also said that English spinners like Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali “buy their wickets” while Asian spinners focus on maintaining a good economy rate. 

“A bowler like Adil Rashid or someone like Moeen Ali buy their wickets whereas our spinners focus more on economical bowling. This will be one of the most closely contested World Cups and I don’t see Asian teams getting any extra edge because it is being held in India,” he said. 

On August 9, ICC released a statement annoucing the revised schedule for the upcoming World Cup in India on Wednesday.

The much-awaited encounter between India and Pakistan in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 has been rescheduled to a different day while the dates of eight other matches of the tournament have also been changed. 

The clash between India and Pakistan was originally scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad on Sunday, October 15, but was moved to a day earlier at the same venue.

As a result, England’s fixture against Afghanistan in Delhi will be moved from Saturday, October 14 and will now be played 24 hours later on Sunday, October 15.

Pakistan’s contest against Sri Lanka in Hyderabad has moved from Thursday, 12 October to now being played on Tuesday, 10 October and Australia’s big match against South Africa in Lucknow moved back 24 hours and will now be played on Thursday, October 12 instead of Friday, October 13.

Similarly, New Zealand’s game against Bangladesh originally scheduled as a day match for October 14 in Chennai has been moved back and will now be held on Friday, October 13 and be played as a day-night contest.

From the initial phase of the tournament, a minor change to the fixture refers to the timing of England’s match-up against Bangladesh in Dharamsala, with the clash becoming a day match and a 10:30 AM (local time) start after it was originally scheduled as a day-night fixture.

Towards the end of the league stage, there are three changes with the double-header encounters of Sunday, 12 November being moved a day earlier to Saturday, 11 November – Australia vs Pakistan in Pune (10:30 AM) and England vs Pakistan in Kolkata (02:00 PM).

Meanwhile, India’s last league game against the Netherlands has now been shifted from 11 to 12 November, a day-night clash to be played in Bengaluru. 

The World Cup commences on Thursday, 5 October when 2019 finalists England and New Zealand clash at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the event culminating in the final at the same venue on Sunday, 19 November. India will start its campaign with a match against Australia in Chennai on October 8. 

Ten teams will feature in this biggest Cricket World Cup ever, to be played across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final. The event will feature 48 matches to be played across 46 days. 

The venues other than Ahmedabad and Chennai are Bengaluru, Delhi, Dharamsala, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune. While Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram will join Hyderabad in hosting the practice games. 

Eight teams have qualified for the 46-day event through the Cricket World Cup Super League while the final two spots were decided by the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier taking place in Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka and the Netherlands grabbed the two final spots in the tournament. 

The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, to be played in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The final will be on November 19 in Ahmedabad. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.