Mumbai: India ‘A’ and U-19 coach Rahul Dravid has suggested squad rotation as a way to help team morale.
For the Test matches against England Under-19, the selectors have announced a whole new 15-man squad in place of the players who were part of the squad for the ODI series. Despite performing well, the selectors took heed of Dravid’s recommendation and overhauled the side with a new bunch.
While speaking to bcci.tv, he said, “There is an effort to try and get a lot more boys involved. In a sense, it (rotation) builds healthy competition; lets everyone know that they cannot take their places for granted. In the future, the opportunities that they get, more than I would say selection will be based on their performances.”
This might stem from his experiences as a captain back in 2005 when Dravid started rotating his squad to create a bigger pool of internationals and keep the squad on its toes.
But Dravid also maintained that when a player does not get to play a match after being selected, it can be demoralising. He stressed that players must be given enough game time to hone their skill set where performance mattered, not the result.
The India U-19s will take on the England U-19s in two Test matches beginning on Monday.
