On November 27, Shikhar Dhawan made two changes to the Indian side for the second ODI against New Zealand. Shardul Thakur was replaced by Deepak Chahar whereas Sanju Samson made way for Deepak Hooda. Former Indian pacer and current Gujarat Titans (GT) head coach Ashish Nehra was not happy with the changes made as he felt that Hooda is not a great sixth bowling option.
"I hope they have not got Deepak Hooda for his bowling. You have Washington Sundar. Yes, he bowled well in a T20I game, picked up 3, 4 wickets but he is the 6th option and not a great 6th option," Nehra told Prime Video.
"Two changes, India made. First things first, I don't think two wrongs make a right. According to me, it's not that Shardul Thakur has not done well, but before Shardul, it should have been Deepak Chahar. Now you have gone with Shardul, it's harsh to drop someone after one game.
"Even if you see Sanju Samson, I would have played Hooda ahead of Sanju Samson because he was part of the World Cup squad and then suddenly he is nowhere. You should definitely have a 6th bowling option. That bowling option for me is not Deepak Hooda, but Deepak Chahar," the 43-year-old added.
Murali Kartik was not happy with Samson missing out either. Samson scored 36 runs from 38 deliveries as India posted 306/7 in the first ODI at Eden Park, Auckland.
"You want bowling options, unfortunately for India, the top 6 that we have here, the top 6 none of them bowl. And I said this before as well, it's tough on Sanju Samson. We all keep talking about how good he is," Kartik said.
"He comes and gets a lovely score. He bats really well in the series against South Africa. Yes, the feeling is to keep him going and then that's right. But now he misses out in spite of scoring runs in the previous game and you get Deepak Hooda to bowl, which is fine.
"But as Ashish said, if you are picking him as a batter from the get-go and then getting him to bowl, that's a different thing. But for him to come now and then the others to miss out.. look Shardul Thakur has been among the wickets. It's a tough ask. I know VVS Laxman has got a lot on his plate, he is a fair man.
"With the squad of 14, this is what they have tried to do, given what happened in the previous game," the 46-year-old added.
