India’s bowling display while defending a target has been under the scanner in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has struggled in death overs and leaked boundaries whereas Avesh Khan has looked far from a frontline seamer before getting ruled out of the tournament due to illness. In the absence of injured Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, many have asked why an experienced Mohammed Shami is not a part of the squad. Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri is of the same opinion as well.
“When you need to win, you got to prepare better,” Shastri said after India’s loss to Sri Lanka on September 6.
“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 spinner. I was quite surprised that you came here with just four fast bowlers (including Hardik). 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.
Former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram, who is a part of the commentary team for the event, asked Shastri whether the coach can have a say in team selection, to which Shastri replied, “He does.”
“He’s not part of the selection. he can contribute by saying ‘this is the combination we want’ then it’s up to the captain in the meeting to take that forward. When I say planning… There should have been one extra fast bowler. One spinner less in the 15-16. You don’t wanna be caught 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,” the 60-year-old further added.
Shami has not played a T20I since last year’s T20 World Cup 2021. In Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Shami took the most number of wickets (20) for champions Gujarat Titans (GT). Even after being the prime wicket-taker with the new ball, Shami did not get a place in India’s T20I squad despite speciallist bowlers getting injured.
