"One of them has to play selfless cricket"- Former India selector on Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan

Former India selector Saba Karim has opined that Team India's ODI opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have to change their brand of cricket according to modern-day needs and make the most of powerplay restrictions.

Karim feels that both Rohit and Dhawan together cannot afford to play out too many deliveries to get set as it is crucial to get off to a flying start. He also spoke about the importance of these batters carrying the momentum of the first powerplay into the middle overs.

Speaking in a media interaction arranged by Sony Sports Network ahead of India's ODI series against Bangladesh, here's what Saba Karim had to say about the openers:

"Between Rohit and Dhawan, one of them has to play selfless cricket and that's the only way we can put up strong runs in the powerplay. The second powerplay from overs 11-40 is also crucial since you have five fielders inside the circle. That is also a time to exploit some vacant areas and that can happen if both openers stick around and continue to play those kinds of shots."

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Saba Karim on KL Rahul's ideal position in India's ODI team

Saba Karim feels KL Rahul needs to be backed just as an opener and not as a middle-order option in the ODI team. He feels there are enough options in the middle order with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and even Sanju Samson in the mix.

On this, he stated:

"I look at him (KL Rahul) more as an opening alternative to Dhawan and Rohit. I think he has done well as an opener and he is such a classy player. Having said that, I don't know what number he will come in, if not as an opener. If you use him in the middle-order then can we give him a long rope there? Because there are so many contenders in the fray."

The former selector also spoke about the importance of the Men in Blue sticking to a limited pool of players and rotating the squad among them in their build-up to the ODI World Cup. He added:

"Right now the focus should be the 2023 World Cup. We need to have a pool of a maximum of 20 players and they should be given specific roles. Once that trust comes in, players can play freely without worrying about their place."

India's squad for Bangladesh ODIs: Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shahbaz Ahmed, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen.