Shastri wants Big 3 phased out of ODIs

Former skipper and current National Cricket Academy chairman Ravi Shastri said here today that Team India seniors like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid should concentrate more on playing Test cricket and that they should be phased out of ODIs.

Talking to the media at the PCA Stadium, Shastri said that “they (the Big Three) have a lot to offer to Test cricket but in limited-overs I feel they should only be playing on rotational basis. It isn’t easy fitting in all the three in the playing XI in an ODI. It is clear you have to have a solid team of youngsters in the ODIs.” Speaking on the issue of Tendulkar refusing the captaincy of the Test team, and on Mahendra Singh Dhoni being possibly promoted to take on the Test side as well, Shastri said: “I think it will be like asking for too much from him. Dhoni still has to grow as a player, so Test captaincy can wait. He will become better with time, when he gets some competition.”

Shastri, though, refused to be drawn into the debate as to who should be the right candidate to replace Dravid, who quit captaincy in September. “It won’t be fair of me to name anyone, but I have said what I feel of Dhoni’s case,” he said.

The selectors name Dravid’s replacement on November 8 during the India-Pakistan ODI here.