Former Indian team head coach Ravi Shastri has questioned the decision to sit seamer Mohammad Shami out of the Asia Cup squad. India has made an exit from the tournament after two consecutive losses against Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the top 4 stage. Many have remarked about India’s team selection choices, mainly for depending on just three seamers for the tournament.
India took Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Avesh Khan as their primary pacers. Avesh Khan faced illness and had to be ruled out leaving the side with just two pacers. Their third option was Hardik Pandya, the all-rounder whose bowling spells were a bane at the best in the top 4 clashes. Moreover, Deepak Chahar, the dynamic seamer was on the bench waiting but well he kept waiting until the team walked out of the championship altogether.
The imbalanced team combination urged many to question the basis of such selection. Mohammad Shami performed commendably for Gujrat Titans in IPL. The seamer was the highest wicket-taker for his team. Moreover, he proved to be a real threat to the opponents in the powerplay overs. He was the joint highest wicket-taker in the powerplay with CSK’s Mukesh Chaudhary. Both of them scalped 11 wickets in the early overs.
Ravi Shastri asks the reason behind the absence of Mohammad Shami
Ravi Shastri was surprised to see exclusion of Mohammad Shami from Asia Cup squad. pic.twitter.com/yXOosxONJg
— Dr. Cric Point 🏏 (@drcricpoint) September 8, 2022
Following this performance, it only seemed logical that Shami should’ve been in the squad, given the unavailability of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel. Validating the voices of the audience, Ravi Shastri has now presented similar views.
“When you need to win, you got to prepare better,” Shastri told. “I think the selection could have been better, especially for the fast bowlers. You know the conditions here. There’s not much in it for the spinners. I was quite surprised that you came here with just four fast bowlers,” said the former coach, now a commentator for the Asia Cup.
“You needed that extra one… Someone like Mohammed Shami sitting at home and cooling his heels baffles me. After the IPL he had, for him not to be able to make the cut is… Obviously, I’m seeing something different,” he added.
Indian team relied heavily on the spinners for this tournament. Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravichandran Ashwin, all made part of the squad. Moreover, Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Hooda were also present for the most part. However, Shastri opined that one less spinner and a pacer in that place would’ve balanced the team.
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“No one ever wishes to sit out,” Shastri said of Shami’s absence. “Of course, there is something called workload management. I would agree with it, to an extent, but at times I think there are some minus points in it as well. I feel that at times when you are in good form and in great rhythm, you shouldn’t stop playing. Of course, at times, I feel, for the sake of recovery, you need to take a break. You have to do it smartly.”
“When I say planning, there should have been one extra fast bowler. One spinner less in the [squad of] 15-16. You don’t want to be caught in a situation where one guy has a fever and then you have no one else to play. You have to play another spinner, which can be embarrassing in the end.”
