Mhambrey on seniors in bilateral T20Is: “Players like Rohit, Virat, look at very specific areas in their T20 games.”

The three-match Twenty20 International series between India and South Africa is scheduled to begin on Sunday. Their tour of South Africa, which consists of two Test matches and three ODIs, begins with the series. In the recently finished five-match T20I series against Australia, India had a relatively unchanged side, with skipper Suryakumar Yadav and no senior players, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

There are doubts over Rohit and Kohli’s participation in the team, even though players like Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are still anticipated to be important contributors in the T20 World Cup in 2019. In order to “understand the team’s areas of adaptability,” younger players are being selected in bilateral series, according to India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey.

He told PTI, “It in no way implies that bilateral T20Is aren’t important.” All I’m stating is that each player has to keep things in balance. It also depends on the subject of our conversation. When playing T20, whether it’s for India or the IPL, players like Rohit and Virat focus on very particular areas.

For the T20I series against South Africa, the majority of the players will be playing in the nation for the first time. “One would like to watch younger players during bilaterals and examine and understand areas of their adaptability – game awareness, pressure situations, how they adapt to these varied situations the Indian jersey carries,” Mhambrey said.

“I would never claim that people are against playing red-ball cricket.”

Mhambrey said that regardless of how profitable white-ball cricket becomes, the future generation of fast bowlers would always choose red-ball cricket above it. “I’d never claim that people are against playing red-ball cricket. As of right now, if you ask any aspiring spinner or fast bowler what format they would most want to succeed in, they will invariably tell you Test cricket,” the man said.

According to him, bowlers who want to play just in the white ball format are often those who have given red ball cricket a go.

“Yes, it seems sense that certain bowlers would choose the white ball format. After participating in every format, they most likely concluded that their style of play and skill level were better suited for the white ball format. There is nothing anybody can do about it now; it will be a very personal call,” he said.