The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday announced the 14-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai and Sharjah from August 27 to September 11.
Notably, star pacer of India Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were not available for selection owing to injuries. They are currently undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru. In their absence, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan were selected while Bhuvneshwar Kumar will lead the pace attack.
However, what raised many eyebrows was the fact that experienced pacer Mohammed Shami was left out of the India squad. Shami’s exclusion have also left fans contemplating that if he’s even part of the BCCI’s plan for the T20 World Cup 2022.
Meanwhile, former Indian captain, and ex-chairman of selection committee Krishnamachari Srikkanth said that the veteran pacer should have been given an opportunity and picked ahead of young spinner Ravi Bishnoi to strengthen India pace attack.
“In my team, Shami was literally there. If I was the Chairman of the selection committee, I think Shami would have been there and probably, I would not have gone with Ravi Bishnoi, said Srikkanth while talking on Star Sports’ show ‘Follow the Blues’.
“I think the squad is pretty good but I think we would need one more medium pacer. We are going with one medium pacer short. Two wrist spinners is fine. I feel bad for Axar Patel, who has missed out,” he added.
It is worth noting that Shami bagged 20 wickets in 16 matches for the IPL 2022 champions Gujarat Titans and has picked up 216 Test and 152 ODI wickets in his career while leading the pace attack numerous times for Team India.
Also, cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra echoed same thoughts as Srikkanth and lashed out at selectors for ignoring Shami.
“Why everybody has forgotten about Mohammed Shami is beyond me. He has performed well, his IPL numbers are great. I think if it was a race between Avesh Khan and Mohammed Shami, I will go with Mohammed Shami with my eyes closed. Nothing against Avesh, but I feel that Shami should have been given a chance with the new ball in the absence of a Jasprit Bumrah,” said Aakash Chopra.
Virat Kohli, KL Rahul return to squad
Meanwhile, talismanic batter Virat Kohli and opener KL Rahul on Monday made a comeback to T20Is through the 15-member squad for the Asia Cup 2022.
Kohli, who has been in a prolonged lean patch, returns to the side having last featured during India’s tour of England in July and was rested for white-ball tour of West Indies and the upcoming ODIs against Zimbabwe.
Rahul also returns after a groin injury ruled him out of T20I series against South Africa at home. He then underwent a sports hernia surgery in Germany, ruling him out of England tour.
Rahul was set to return during India’s T20I series against West Indies, but a positive Covid-19 test ahead of the tour meant he wasn’t included in trip to the Caribbean.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal too returns to the squad after being rested for the five-match T20I series against the West Indies while there was no room for Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan.
The BCCI also announced that Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar and Axar Patel will be backup players for Asia Cup 2022.
India will enter the competition as defending champions and they are also the most successful team, having won the trophy seven times. They will open their title defence against Pakistan on August 28.
India’s squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan
Stand-bys: Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar
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