"You should have sent India 'A' team" - Salman Butt on Men in Blue resting senior players in ODI series vs WI

Salman Butt reckons that India should not have named experienced players in their ODI squad for the West Indies series if they were not going to feature in the playing XI.

The former Pakistan captain opined that the selectors should have instead named a second-string side, allowing the senior members to rest following the two-match Test series. Speaking on his YouTube channel, he remarked:

"If it was about resting the senior players, or trying different combinations, you should have sent India 'A' team. In that case, all the main players would have got time to rest after the Test series. When you have Ravindra Jadeja and a few other experienced batters, you cannot call this an inexperienced team.

"These batters have double centuries in ODI cricket and big scores under their belt in Tests and IPL as well."

Butt suggested that India should look to identify 15 players who will be part of their squad for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup instead of constantly chopping and changing. He also claimed that the Men in Blue batters will have up their game against spinners, adding:

"If you were to analyse the game as an expert, it seemed as if they don't care about the results. The other thing is that they were traditionally very good players of spin bowling. However, that control against spinners has been missing.

"Also, making frequent changes to the team for every tour should stop. It is about time that India knew who their 15 players were for the World Cup."

Notably, India won the ODI series opener comfortably, successfully chasing down a modest 115-run target. Following the win, the visitors rested skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli for the remaining two fixtures.

The side suffered a six-wicket defeat in the second fixture but were able to bounce back as they won the deciding encounter by 200 runs to secure a 2-1 series win.

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"They will need Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order" - Salman Butt on India's ODI team

In the same video, Salman Butt also spoke about the importance of having experienced players in important tournaments like the World Cup.

The cricketer-turned-expert stated that India should consider bringing the likes of Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane back into their 50-over team. Butt explained:

"Ajinkya Rahane is an option, considering how impressive he was at the IPL and how he made his comeback into the Test team. Also, I feel that they will need Shikhar Dhawan at the top of the order. I don't see any of their top order left-handed batters who are better than him.

"Either Shikhar Dhawan bats with Shubman Gill as the opener, and Rohit Sharma comes at No. 3, or Gill can come down and Rohit can open. They will need experience in big games. They also need an experienced batter at No. 6. It could be Ajinkya Rahane or KL Rahul."

India's squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023 could possibly give fans a better picture of the team management's plans for the World Cup. The continental tournament will be played from August 30 in Pakistan and Sri Lanka as per a hybrid model.