New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS): Saba Karim, the former India wicketkeeper-batter and ex-member of the senior men's selection committee, feels that time is ripe for Indian team think-tank to develop new and young finishers like Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan so that the side has more options in this department for the future.
Tewatia was a key player in Gujarat Titans' winning IPL 2022, amassing 217 runs in 16 matches at a high strike rate of 147.62 and forming a formidable finishing pair with South Africa's explosive left-handed batter David Miller.
Shahrukh, on the other hand, had a patchy time with Punjab Kings in the tournament, making only 117 runs in eight innings at an average of 16.71 and strike rate of 108.33. Moreover, with his form not up to the mark, he wasn't given consistent enough runs at Punjab to show more of his famed finishing skills.
"I think the time has come now to develop such young cricketers. Because you see, in the IPL most of the teams prefer to have an overseas batsman at that position. So, you can have David Miller you have Tim David you have Rovman Powell which means that still the young talent who are coming through from the Indian domestic circuit, they're still not equipped enough to handle the pressure and to deliver on a consistent basis," said Karim on 'Sports Over The Top' show on Sports18.
In the current India T20I set-up, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik are the designated finishers. "Both the names that you've taken Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia, they're young. They do have the skill and they need to be far more consistent. But to do that, we need to put some more hours behind them so that they're able to come up to that level of international quality," added Karim.
Further talking about young prospects for the future, Karim said he would like to see leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi play in all three formats of the game for India. But at the same time, he said the Jodhpur-based youngster will have to play red-ball cricket, something which he is yet to do so. Bishnoi has picked 16 wickets in ten T20Is, averaging 17.12 and at an economy rate of 7.08.
"I would love to see him play in all three formats and somehow for some inexplicable reason, we don't see any leg spinner in the test match format these days. But I would like to see the change coming in here and Ravi Bishnoi is one such candidate who can play all three formats and do well for India."
"But before that, he needs to play red-ball cricket for his state's side and if he does well there it'll add to his confidence and then the Indian selectors can think of playing him in all three formats."
"The kind of eagerness and ability he has shown, and on top of that, the skill set which he has is really admirable. Young in age and all that experience really helps in to grow in confidence and he can continue to do that in international level also," signed off Karim.