Former India head coach and now commentator Ravi Shastri has laid down the real meaning of what constitutes of a ‘Bits And Pieces’ cricketer, and he also hailed Ravindra Jadeja as a proper all-rounder.
Over the past four-five years, the expression ‘bits and pieces’ has been used frequently, but also carefully by fans and experts. However, many have mixed and failed to separate a genuine all-rounder and a Bits and Pieces player.
This debate was ignited by Sanjay Manjrekar and Ravindra Jadeja in 2019 when the commentator had labeled Jadeja as a ‘bits and pieces’ player, disregarding his faculties in both batting and bowling department. But the all-rounder shot back with a thunderous all-round performance in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand.
Since then, while Jadeja has been labeled as a proper all-rounder by all, India have had some ‘bits and pieces’ players.
What is a bits and pieces cricketer? Ravi Shastri answers
Speaking with ESPNcricinfo, Ravi Shastri said: “A bits and pieces player is half here and half here [in batting and bowling department].” He added,“[For an all-rounder] you got to be dominant. Like, if in a side, where you’re guaranteed to bowl 3 overs game and game, and you are going to bat in top 6 – then you can call an all-rounder.”
For bits and pieces, he explained, “you are suddenly being pushed to number 8, or you may bowl 1 over or 2 overs instead of 4.”
This explanation came from Ravi Shastri when he was asked about the effect of the Impact Player rule in the IPL on all-rounders. He explained that while the Impact Player rule doesn’t affect proper all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja, this will take some value away from the bits-and-pieces players because then they will not be required for a secondary role. For example, Venkatesh Iyer hasn’t bowled a single ball in KKR‘s 3 matches so far and has come on as an Impact Player when they are batting second.
Watch: Ravi Shastri explains what is a Bits and Pieces player:
🚨 PSA 🚨: @RaviShastriOfc explains what a "bits and pieces" cricketer is beyond a shadow of doubt 😅#IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/rNKDyAV8Vg
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 14, 2023
