Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Shami sitting at home baffles me – Ravi Shastri | Shastri says India should pick Mohammed Shami in T20I squad
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has expressed bafflement at Mohammed Shami’s exclusion from the Indian T20I squad. Shastri claimed that the side needed an additional element amongst the pacers amidst the prevalent playing conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Rohit Sharma-led side headed into the Asia Cup with three frontline pacers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh. Hardik Pandya has been slotted in as the third or fourth-choice fast-bowler according to the team combination. However, Avesh’s illness meant that Hardik has had to come in as the third pacer for the majority of the competition.
The management had the choice of calling in Deepak Chahar as Avesh’s replacement given that the former has been training with the squad. However, they opted to wait for the Lucknow Super Giant (LSG) pacer to recover. Shastri has hit hard on the think-tank for ignoring Shami as he said, “When you need to win, you got to prepare better. 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 [including Hardik].”
I’m seeing something different for Shami to be ignored – Shastri
He added, “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.”
Shami has not been involved in the team’s scheme of things in the T20I format ever since last year’s World T20. He was the leading wicket-taker (20) for champions Gujarat Titans in the previous edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). However, Shami’s economy in the powerplay (6.62) was a stark contrast to the same in death overs (9.63). India’s issues in the last two games have mainly been concerned around a lack of incisiveness towards the fag end of the innings. Yet, Shastri was adamant that Shami’s presence could have worked in India’s favour as well.
“No one ever wishes to sit out. 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,” the former head-coach explained, as reported by ESPNCricinfo.
India could have gone with an extra pacer in the squad
India has four spinners in the squad of 15, namely: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja/Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Yuzvendra Chahal. Shastri believes that they could have gone with an extra pacer in place of one of these spinners. “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,” the former head coach further added.
India will now be facing Afghanistan for their final Super-4 encounter, which will be a virtual dead rubber, on Thursday. The Rohit Sharma-led side will be playing six T20Is, including three apiece vs Australia and South Africa, before kicking off their T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan on 23rd October in the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).