According to Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, a finisher is slightly different definition than what others provide. Krishnamachari Srikkanth who was an important member in 1983 WC, was also the former chairman of selectors.
Srikkanth was discussing about the best T-20I finishers in the present Indian men’s cricket team. According to him, a finisher is that guy who comes in around eight to twelfth over but still stays till the end.
Srikkanth deliberately voted for Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav as finishers. Dinesh Kartik has been scoring consistently as a finisher towards the tail. But Kartik’s score isn’t enough to please the former opener.
Srikkanth told while speaking exclusively in Star Sports’ ‘Follow The Blues’,
“What do you mean by a finisher? In my book, the finisher is the guy who can take the batting from the 8th or 12th over and go on till the 20th over, and win the match for India. He starts from the 8th or the 6th over, but where is the good finisher? KL Rahul is a good finisher, Rohit Sharma is a good finisher. They go opening by the way. I just can’t say that you bat the last 5 overs and say he’s a finisher.”
Srikkanth further added,
“I would like to term Dinesh Karthik, he definitely finds a place in my team too. I would call Dinesh Karthik a fine finisher but actual finishers are guys like Suryakumar Yadav. He is a brilliant finisher.”
Also a commentator, Srikkanth named Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant as finishers too. Both of them match the texts in his book. They both are middle over batters who explode towards the end of an innings. Srikhant, on this, said,
“You have Rishabh Pant, who is a brilliant finisher. You have Hardik Pandya, who is a brilliant finisher too. I think I would like to clarify that a finisher is a guy who takes the team from the 8th over and goes on till the 20th over.”
Former India wicketkeeper and ex-chief selector, Kiran More was also there in that show. He was discussing if Pandya’s emergence as a full four over bowler is an advantage to Rohit Sharma or not. More even asked, if that allowed the management to let an extra wrist spinner in 2022 Asia Cup squad.
While speaking of that, Srikkanth opined,
“Yes, definitely. The way Hardik Pandya has got back in form, bowling to 140-147 km. When the captain gets such a player in the team who can bowl 4 overs and take wickets as well as gets runs for the team and a finisher as well, such players are needed in the team.”
Asia Cup squad may stay same in T-20 WC. Shami may fit in, opines Srikkanth
However, Srikkanth feels the squad selected for the Asia Cup may not stay the same for T-20 World Cup. He said,
“But I want to say that this team that has been announced (for the Asia Cup) will not be the same team for the T20 World Cup. Mohammed Shami will definitely be there in the Indian team. The back-up that they are taking along is not the final team, this is just the preparation for the World Cup. I will say that Mohammed Shami must definitely go for the World Cup. The process Rahul Dravid works is the way he is handling the team. In case of back-up if any good bowler is down with injury, then Avesh Khan would fill in his place in Australia because you don’t know when you could get injured especially the fast bowlers. Bumrah is currently injured right now, so I think Mohammed Shami or Bumrah will definitely go to Australia for the World.”
However, Indian fans will witness the high voltage clash of India Pakistan of 28th August. The match will be telecasted live from 7.30 PM on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar.
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