India has produced great talent in recent times that has played at the top level. Young players like Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, and Mohammed Siraj have been match-winners for the Men in Blue in recent times. Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt believes that India’s strong domestic structure can produce world-class batters.
He believes the Men in Blue find batters with the temperament to play long innings because they are encouraged to do so from an early age. Shubman Gill became the youngest batter and the fifth Indian to score an ODI double-century, and Butt believes Pakistan should take note of this achievement and make changes to their domestic structure.
“Other teams like our own (Pakistan), who struggle to win games while chasing big scores despite coming in a position to win the game, should learn and adopt this (India’s system). You need to make such tournaments and let the kids develop their skills. In 5-10 years’ time, these skills will automatically be instilled within them,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
“The real credit for such domination from India in the 200-club goes to junior-level cricket, where the batters are committed to playing for long periods. Since there is no pressure of time, your skills to score runs using the right shots and set up the batters to pick wickets get developed more,” he added.
We haven’t given priority to longer formats: Salman Butt
Salman Butt believes Pakistan’s modern-day batters lack the temperament to play long innings because they play shorter formats more frequently during their formative years. The former cricketer emphasised the significance of having the proper procedures in place.
“Our batters score fifties and get dismissed because we have given them 80-90 per cent T20 cricket at the junior level and university level. We haven’t given priority to longer formats and so they get out playing reckless shots because they just don’t have those skills. Gill played such a brilliant knock at such a young age only because of the exposure and the right process that he has got,” he added.
