The Twenty20 format can be used to groom young talent and prepare them for one-dayers and Tests while not distracting players from winning games, stand-in India skipper Rohit Sharma said Wednesday.
Sharma, who is captaining the side in the second T20 against Bangladesh in Rajkot on Thursday with Virat Kolhi rested for the series, is leading a young Indian side with several veterans rested.
The hosts need to win to keep the three-match series alive after going down in the opening game by seven wickets.
"We want to try a lot of players to make them ready for the other formats," Sharma told a press conference.
"Because this is the format where these individuals can come out and express themselves so that they are ready for ODI and Test cricket."
Sharma has been one of India's brightest stars in limited-overs cricket, but also proved his mettle in the Test format after making a successful debut as opener in during his team's 3-0 sweep of South Africa.
Nicknamed "hitman" for his attacking style of play, Sharma -- who made his Test debut in 2013, six years after his first ODI match -- scored 529 runs with two centuries and a double ton in the three matches.
"We have seen a lot of players who have emerged from this format," Sharma said, adding players would learn valuable lessons even in defeat.
"But having said that, winning games is the first priority," he said.
Paceman Khaleel Ahmed and allrounder Shivam Dube -- who made his debut in Delhi on Sunday -- are just some of the players being trialled by the team's management with an eye on the T20 World Cup in Australia next year.
Sharma, 32, said the hosts could adopt a "different" approach with the bat and ball in the second match if they get a good pitch.
Perry's onstage quip about "Englishmen" felt like a deliberate signal.
Those yacht photos are, frankly, undeniable.
It started with a Montreal dinner most people missed.
Both are out of long-term relationships.
Well, she’s as good as confirmed it, hasn’t she? Katy Perry just tossed a verbal grenade into her London concert, and the pieces all point to Justin Trudeau. That line about Englishmen? You do not say that by accident. It lands just days after those, let's face it, pretty steamy pictures of them surfaced on her boat. This Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau thing is suddenly feeling very real, shifting from rumours to a full-blown celebrity romance.
Katy Perry’s stage moment sparks worldwide fan theories about a secret romance Getty Images
So what did she actually say?
Mid-show at the O2, looking out at the crowd, she hits them with this: "London, England, you’re like this on a Monday night?... No wonder I fall for Englishmen all the time."
Pause.
Then came the kicker: "...but not anymore." The place erupts. It was too specific, too perfectly timed. And then, almost as if scripted, some fan proposes to her. Her comeback was: "I wish you’d asked me 48 hours ago." What is that, if not a nod to a new, serious someone?
Let’s talk about the yacht. The Daily Mail got those shots and, while grainy, the story they tell is crystal clear. The photos were taken off the coast of Santa Barbara, on her 78-foot Caravelle. He is pulling her in, kissing her cheek. His hand was on her backside in another frame. This follows that low-key Montreal dinner in July that almost flew under the radar.
— (@)
Where does this leave everyone?
Right, let us look at the context. Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom only finalised their split recently, with the co-parenting news coming out in July. Justin Trudeau’s marriage to Sophie Grégoire also ended last year. Both are prominent figures with busy lives who have only just become single. Sources are already saying he has been "persistent," flying to see her on tour breaks. It has the feel of something that is accelerating fast. And Perry, with that London comment, seems ready to let it.
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