In an exclusive interview with News18 CricketNext, former India player, ex-selector, and BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) member Jatin Paranjape talks about the future of Indian cricket. From reflecting on India’s recent T20 World Cup victory, Rahul Dravid’s role in shaping the current lot and the BCCI’s impact in nurturing talent, setting the stage for India’s continued dominance, Pranjape sees a bright future for the young Indian team.
Excerpts
I’d like to go back to the T20 World Cup win and the euphoria around it. How significant was this victory, and what did it mean for the senior players and the team?
I think, as the Indian team, there is so much pressure to win everything. So, after November 19th, when they couldn’t clear that last hurdle against Australia, the pressure was always on India in this World Cup. It was a sigh of relief for the Indian team. However, I would like to provide a deeper context. If you look at the T20 and the ICC’s future tours program annual calendar, the number of ODIs and T20s will start increasing, and India is at the cusp of forming an all-new T20 team.
The context is deeper in terms of two senior players phasing out and a brand-new young team emerging. It’s always better when that team comes into being after a victory because all the positives are at the bedrock of that new team, and there is no redemption factor for that new team. If India had lost the final, people would have said, “Oh, you had Virat and Rohit, and you lost the 50-over final; you lost the T20 final.” Now, here’s a team and all the pressure is on that team to redeem themselves. That redemption factor isn’t there now.
We will go in with a brand new T20 team and try to put distance between us and the rest of the world because I think that is a distinct possibility. Australia will also go through a lot of changes, with three or four of their players phasing out. Two or three of the English players will also probably phase out. This is a good time for a young Indian team to come in and stamp themselves as the best team in the world.
The future looks bright for this Indian team, despite the retirements of senior players. We have four debutantes in the recent Zimbabwe T20 series. You’ve been a selector and part of the CAC, so who among these players do you think has a long-term future?
Yeah, I think two or three players are in for the long haul across formats. So, if you look at Ruturaj Gaikwad, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, these guys will be a good bet across formats. For the T20 format, apart from the names you mentioned, I think Tilak Varma is also a fantastic prospect because he can bowl, and we need somebody at five or six who can bowl. The problem with the Indian team has been the lack of a reliable sixth bowling option. Tilak Varma fits well into that role. The rest of the guys are all fantastic.
I think you will now see a brand-new batting line-up with one or two points of stability. Rishabh Pant will bat at 3, SKY will bat at four, and how they will handle the fifth position. So, you will see that emerging as the new backbone of the Indian team, which currently had Virat and Rohit as the backbone. But the names I mentioned — Pant at three, SKY at four, and how they fill the fifth spot — will form that new backbone.
With Rohit Sharma retiring from T20s, there’s a vacancy for the captaincy. Hardik seems an obvious choice, but what are your thoughts?
Hardik Pandya will be the natural choice, with Rishabh Pant likely becoming his vice-captain. But there are four players in the actual captaincy stakes going into the future: Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul. Let’s not forget that KL Rahul is a fantastic player. There have been some reports about him not being available for ODI cricket. I’m not sure how authentic they are, but he is again a cross-format player. So here are the four names. I think Shreyas Iyer will need to cement his place in the T20 side before he can be thought of as a captain. But here are the four young leaders, and we are seeing them in the IPL as well. So here are the four young leaders, and one of them will be the guy for the long term.
Our batting looks strong, but what about bowling? With Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj in their 30s, who do you see as the future of Indian bowling?
Apart from the names you mentioned, Ravi Bishnoi is a very good prospect. Khaleel Ahmed, if he can maintain consistency, is also interesting. I’m not worried about our fast bowling future; we have several capable players. We need to focus on workload management to keep our main bowlers fresh for the big series.
But there will be one gap in the team, which is a batsman who bowls regularly. And I think that is why they tried Shivam Dube as well this time, hoping that Dube can, in the future, also hold a spot. But I think Tilak Varma is another prospect. So, from a fast bowling perspective, to answer your question, I’m not worried. There are five or six bowlers who can step into the shoes.
I think it’s going to be interesting to see how the BCCI plans the next two or three years of cricket because coming up in December is a big series in Australia. In 2025, India will go to England for a big series. They will want to keep Shami and Bumrah fresh for that series. You will see a lot of rotation and a lot of workload management happening right now. But overall, we seem to be in very good shape going into the next 10 years, wherein let’s not forget that cricket will also become an Olympic sport. So, it will assume greater proportions globally. All in all, it was a good time for India, set up by that fantastic win in the Caribbean.
Wicketkeeping is another area with a wealth of talent, like Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, and Jitesh Sharma. What do you think is the reason behind this explosion of talented wicketkeepers?
I think it’s the IPL effect because IPL teams need keepers. So, you need eight times the number of keepers than you needed before the IPL came around. Obviously, Mahi’s had a huge legacy on this game, but I think it’s mainly due to the IPL.
With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retiring from T20s, do you think the role of an anchor in T20 cricket is diminishing?
In T20 cricket, there’s no role for an anchor; it’s all about attacking from the start. However, in the 50-over format, an anchor is still necessary.
Were you surprised by Virat Kohli’s retirement from T20s, given his fitness and ability?
Not really. Given the effort Virat has put into his career, I always felt he would retire sooner. Both he and Rohit Sharma still have strong ambitions for the World Test Championship, and playing fewer games will help them manage their bodies better.
You mentioned the strong pipeline of players and the role of the BCCI in this. Can you elaborate?
We are lucky to have a huge pipeline of players. The BCCI needs to be thanked for that because this pipeline has come about through Under-19 and India A tours, and all these tours need capital. So the BCCI has never shirked from investing capital into India A team shadowing the main team in Australia or India A team shadowing the main team in England. They’ve never thought twice about it. So, it’s not often mentioned but the BCCI’s capital allocation when it comes to development of cricket has been nothing short of fantastic.
This gives me a great segue to my next question. You talked about the pipeline and the structure, but you need someone to really mould them. Rahul Dravid seems to be that person. We talked about the emotions of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and others. In 2007, during the West Indies tour, Rahul Dravid was probably at his lowest as a skipper. So many years later, holding that trophy must have been emotional. Can you talk about the highlights of Rahul Dravid as a head coach?
I think the platform that the Indian team has now with this victory sets them up to become the best team in the world across formats. This isn’t just national pride speaking; the team genuinely has an authentic and achievable opportunity to be the best by a distance. When you look at why this has happened, you see the impact of Ravi Shastri’s five years as coach and Rahul Dravid’s three years.
They’ve cultivated a culture of unity and channeled the right players from the India A setup into the main team. Rahul is right; you can’t judge a coach solely by results. He has enabled a springboard for the next coach to put real distance between India and other teams. As cricket gains more relevance globally, especially with the Olympics embracing it, the expectations from the Indian team will grow. Rahul has positioned the team so that these audacious goals look possible.
You’re part of the CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee) looking at the next Indian coach. What do you look for in the ideal candidate? Is Rahul Dravid’s approach the blueprint, or does it vary with each candidate?
It depends on where the team is at the moment. Three years ago, we were ready to take on new challenges after beating Australia, and Rahul took the team forward from there. For the next few years, considering the ICC’s future tours program, the key is how the new coach will handle this bank of amazing talent. How will they manage workloads for players like Bumrah and Shami to maintain their strength for major tournaments like the 2027 ODI World Cup and the 2026 T20 World Cup. The ideal candidate should be able to manage and strengthen the human capital of the team over their term.
One final question. Cricket often overshadows other sports in India, but there’s immense potential in other sports as well. You’ve been part of an organisation focusing on this. Can you speak more about that?
I run a sports app called KheloMore, which you can find on the App Store. Our goal is to make access to sports very easy for Indians. If you want to play a game of box cricket, for example, and you’re wondering which box cricket venue to go to, you can enter your current location, and the KheloMore app will show six or seven venues around you where you can book slots. This also applies to badminton and football venues. We’re aggregating the supply side of sports facilities and putting it all on one app. Regarding other sports, there’s been a huge increase in sports participation in India at all levels, from middle-aged people playing recreationally to children from schools in Tier 2, Tier 3 and Tier 4 towns. Everyone is willing to play sports. After the Paris Olympics, this enthusiasm will rise even higher.
As a sports-loving person, I feel it’s important to ensure that millions of Indians get access to sports and that’s what KheloMore aims to do. Our app allows you to book sports venues, and in the next 2-3 months, we will enable bookings for thousands of certified coaches across various sports. We are here to ignite your journey into sports.
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