Ravi Shastri calls for India to start succession planning after WTC final loss

The Oval, June 13 (IANS) After India's crushing loss in the World Test Championship final against Australia, former head coach Ravi Shastri has said that it's time for the team management and the selectors to chart a succession plan, saying that they need to draw inspiration from the Australian side in terms of blending youth with experienced players and getting them Test-match ready.

India will begin their 2023-2025 WTC cycle with a two-match series in the Caribbean on July 12. Dominica will host the first Test, which will be India's first at the venue in over a decade. The Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad will stage the second - and final - Test from July 20.

The West Indies tour might see the first signs of a transition for the ageing Test squad.

"That's what the think-tank and the selectors will have to sit and see, draw a plan, have the vision to see how you replenish your squad. Australians are very good at doing that over the years. They see where they want to be in three years' time. They don't wait for suddenly five players to go away from the side," Shastri told Star Sports after the WTC final.

Notably, Australia have managed to blend in the youngsters such as Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Cameron Green in the setup in presence of experienced Steve Smith and David Warner, which is allowing them to reap the rewards.

Shastri feels that the Indian selectors need to take the "hard calls" and look at the team's interest - as the paramount thing.

"They're constantly getting in youth. So there's a combination of youth and experience all the time. The youngsters learn quickly from the senior players. So your team is healthy and strong right through. So that planning has to be done. They're hard calls, people might not like it, but it's the team's interest that is paramount and that's how you should look at it," he said.

Meanwhile, India skipper Rohit also spoke about the succession plans.

"Any tournament you play, you start looking at what possibly you can do moving ahead. Honestly, the game just got over. We haven't really given too much thought to what we want to do in the future. Obviously, there will be some talks around it and we'll see whatever is required and whatever is best, whatever the brand of cricket we want to play in the next two years," said Rohit.

"And who are the guys who can do that role for us? That is the question that we need to find answers to. And there are a lot of guys, there are a lot of players who are doing really well in our domestic cricket as well. It's just about finding them and giving them that space, enough time to go forward and do the job for us. It's all about that. The focus will be obviously on that," he added.