Indian bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule has said that the team will continue to back the strategy of surprise elements as the side prepares for the Champions Trophy 2025 and T20 World Cup in 2026.
Former cricketers Saba Karim and Ajay Jadeja raised concerns over India’s experiments in the Sri Lanka tour, which was expensive as the first ODI resulted in a tie despite requiring only one run to win from 14 balls.
With the likes of Hasaranga and Asalanaka, Sri Lanka forced a tie in the first ODI match in Colombo on Friday. As a result, questions were raised about Rohit Sharma giving Shubman Gill the chance to bowl, where he conceded only 14 runs.
Responding to the concerns, Bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule admitted that the management will continue to experiment with the strategy and said that more is yet to come.
For the third time in an international game and the second time in ODIs, Gill was called to bowl in the match. Bahutule has given a hint on Gambhir’s approach to the White-ball format as India aims for the Champions Trophy in 2025 and the T20 World Cup in 2026.
He stressed that India will give bowling opportunities to top-order batters, which will certainly include the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit. “I think our batters are good bowlers as well, to be honest. You know their primary skill is batting, so at times, they don’t focus much on their bowling. But they have the skills,” said Bahutule in a post-match conference.
India’s head coach’s plan was displayed in the T20I series against Sri Lanka as Rinku Singh and Suryakumar Yadav were given a chance to bowl in death overs.
“You might have seen in the T20Is…Rinku and Surya contributed with the ball. So, an opportunity was given to Shubman here. It’s going to be an all-rounder’s game in the coming days. So, if one or two (batsmen) from the top order can bowl it will definitely help the team, of course, depending on pitch conditions and situations. Also, it will be a surprise element to the opposition, if a batter can bowl. So, moving ahead there will be ample opportunities for batters to bowl,” he explained.
It will be surprising if both Kohli and Rohit Sharma bowl in the rest of the ODI matches against Sri Lanka. The last time Rohit bowled was against Netherlands in the World Cup last year, which remained his only bowling innings in the last three years.
Virat Kohli has bowled twice during the World Cup last year which remains his only bowling in the last six years. The second ODI match will be played on August 04 at Premadasa Stadium.
