18 May 2023 10:19 am Views - 1840
India great Ravi Shastri has revealed the young batters that have impressed him during the ongoing IPL that could make a late run at being part of this year's ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
While India already boast a number of strong top-order performers in the ilk of skipper Rohit Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli and the emerging Shubman Gill, Shastri believes the next crop of young batters are ready to take the next step and could replicate their form at the 50-over showcase should injuries arise to key players.
Young left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal has been a standout so far at the IPL with a total of 575 runs for the Rajasthan Royals, while fellow southpaw Rinku Singh is another to have caught Shastri's eye following his final over heroics for the Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Titans early in the tournament.
Shastri believes both Jaiswal and Rinku are more than capable of making the transition to international cricket in the future and was quick to nominate the pair as standout performers to host Sanjana Ganesan when speaking on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
"One is (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, simply because of the way he's played this season," Shastri said.
"And for me it is a marked improvement from what I saw from him last year, which is a very, very positive sign.
"It shows that there's a young guy prepared to work on his game, sort out things, get a more all-round game into play and he's done that this season.
"Just the power with which he's re-taking shots. Just the pockets he's hitting around the ground as opposed to last year is very good.
"The other bloke is Rinku Singh, which is a great story. The more I see of him, that guy has got a fabulous temperament. He's tough as nails.
"Both these guys have come through very hard backgrounds. They've worked very hard initially in their lives and nothing's come easy for them. So you can see that hunger, that passion, that drive that is so needed to make it to the top.”
But it's not just this pair that have stood out at the IPL for Shastri, with the India legend and respected commentator also liking the look of a host of other young players that are yet to earn an international cap for their country.
Shastri believes India's bowling attack is well set ahead of this year's World Cup, but thinks there are a group of young batters around the mark that could easily sneak into the final squad with continued good form prior to the tournament.
"As far as batting goes, there's Tilak Varma, there's Jitesh Sharma from Punjab (Kings) too who is a wicket-keeper-batter who's pretty dangerous and has stood out," Shastri noted.
"There's even Sai Sudarshan, a left-hander (who has also caught the eye).
"But I would put Tilak Varma, I would put Jaiswal, I'd put Rinku Singh. (They) are the candidates who can really push through along with Ruturaj Gaikwad, who's been around for a while.
"These are the guys who can push for selection, depending on their form closer to the World Cup. And depending on injuries. If there are injuries to any key players, then these guys can come straight away into the mix." (ICC)