Trying to develop young ODI and T20 squads, says Fletcher

Johannesburg, March 28 (IANS) India coach Duncan Fletcher Wednesday said he plans to develop a young ODI and Twenty20 squad and expose them to foreign conditions early in their career.

"We're trying to develop a young one-day squad and Twenty20 squad. These blokes have played well on the subcontinent and any game they play out of it must be good from an experience point of view," he told reporters here at the O.R. Tambo Airport.

India will play a one-off Twenty20 international here Friday just days before the start of the fifth season of Indian Premier League (IPL). The match will be a tribute to all-rounder Jacques Kallis and will also commemorate the 150 years of arrival of Indians in South Africa.

Fletcher feels experiences like this will do a lot of good to the youngsters.

"(We want to) expose them to different pressures and different conditions. From my point of view there is a lot of talent around, we just need to make sure we give them that experience they require," he said.

Fletcher, who led England to a memorable Ashes triumph in 2005, said there has been "no middle road" with India's performances since winning the cricket World Cup.

"Well, so far there's been no middle road," Fletcher said. "We have played some very good cricket ... then we went to England and had a few problems and didn't play as well as we could," he said.