"Pant is only match winner": Former England cricketer Butcher feels India will miss 'match-winners' Rohit, Virat

Dubai [UAE], September 6 (ANI): Former England wicketkeeper Roland Butcher believes India will miss the presence of its batting bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Tests after they pulled the curtain down on the illustrious ventures in May. According to him, the only match-winner with the bat that India currently possesses is Rishabh Pant.
A new dawn began in Indian cricket after Virat and Rohit's swansong in the red-ball format. The Indian management entrusted its faith in Shubman Gill and deemed him Rohit's true successor. India's youngest Test captain was tasked to lead the side for a gruelling five-Test series in England. India had its moments from Leeds to London, and the tour concluded with a dramatic six-run triumph for India at The Oval.
Throughout the series, fans and former cricketers often pointed out certain moments where India yearned for Rohit and Virat on the field. According to Butcher, the replacements that India have brought in are "good players". He stressed the lack of "match-winners" India holds in its arsenal apart from the dynamic Pant.
"Well, I think the Indian team is going to miss both of those players because Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were match winners. You know, they can turn a game by themselves. I think India, at the moment, has a very good side, but the team will not be as good without those two players. The players who have replaced them are very good players. They can score plenty of runs, but they will score runs over a longer period, which means that they don't get themselves in the winning position that quickly," Butcher told while speaking exclusively to ANI.
"So, I think the next couple of years are going to be a transformation for India. They need to find some match-winning batters. The only match-winner, really, in the team at the moment is Rishabh Pant. So, Sharma and Kohli's absence from the team is going to be a huge loss for the team. I don't think that, at the moment, any of the replacements are better than those two because, over the years, their track record has proved that they have been two of the best in the world," he added.
With Gill's first assignment ending level at 2-2, he drew plaudits for the spirited performance that India exhibited under his charge. The 'never give up' mindset became a phrase that defined India's approach across the five Tests. But Butcher shares a different opinion. While dissecting Gill's first stint as the Indian skipper, Butcher claimed Gill had it easy due to the benign nature of English surfaces.
"I think Shubhaman Gill, he's young in terms of captaincy. So, he has to learn how to captain the game. And he's captain in a new team, really, because he's suddenly in the team with two of the most senior players missing. So, he's got to find himself as a captain. He's got to integrate the new players into the team, and he has to make his own identity. It's not going to be easy," he said.
"England, perhaps, was quite easy for him because the pitches were very good for batting. Both teams struggled to bowl the opposition out. So, he was able to make plenty of runs. He's going to have much tougher tests going forward. How he handles that, we'll have to see. But I think it's important for India now to find the new players who come in, have to show the sort of ability that Rohit and Kohli showed, so that he can have an easy job as captain," he added.
Rohit made his Test debut against the West Indies in November 2013, and since then, Rohit has featured in 67 Tests for India, scoring 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, with 12 centuries and 18 fifties, his best score being 212. He is the 16th-highest run-getter in the format for India.
On the other hand, his long-time compatriot, Virat, first represented India in Tests against the West Indies in 2011 and in the coming years, became the country's biggest ambassador for the longest format, scoring 9,230 runs at an average of 46.85 in 123 appearances, with 30 centuries and 31 fifties.
On Saturday, Butcher was present as the chief guest at the Indian Roll Ball League event. The Indian Roll Ball League, born in Pune in 2003, is a unique blend of skating, basketball, and handball. Today, it is played in more than 50 countries and is officially supported by the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) and India's Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
"Obviously, it's very popular in India and the UAE. So, I'm very interested in new sports. You know, we've seen over the last few years the development of T20 cricket, which basically is a new sport. So, I'm very interested to see how this new sport goes. I understand it's perhaps the second-fastest sport in the world, after ice hockey. So, I'd be interested to watch the development of it," Butcher said about the Indian Roll Ball League. (ANI)