NEW DELHI: Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Thursday expressed his shock on the omission of two gamers, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh from India’s ODI World Cup squad.
Chahal, who has been a constant performer in white-ball cricket was not thought-about after the Ajit Agarkar-led choice panel included Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as spinners within the squad.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep additionally missed the World Cup ticket as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj together with all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur accomplished the tempo assault.
Unimpressed by Chahal’s omission, Harbhajan stated that the leg-spinner would have walked into the taking part in eleven of another crew on the planet.
“Two players are missing from the World Cup squad — Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh. The left-arm seamer could have been very useful and can swing in with the new ball because he can give early wickets. You have seen that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mitchell Starc can create a very different kind of impact. When Australia won the World Cup in 2015, Starc had a huge impact in making them win via dismissing Brendon McCullum upfront.”
“Yuzvendra Chahal is a proven match-winner, and if he were playing for any other team in the world, he would have been in the playing eleven. He has proved himself time and time again and it is unfortunate that he missed out on the Indian side. These two could have been handy, like they know the conditions very well at home,” stated Harbhajan in a digital press convention organised by Star Sports.
Harbhajan was additionally shocked over India not having any right-arm spinner, resulting in no selection within the spin bowling division, although Kuldeep is a wrist-spinner.
“We have picked up 2 left-arm spinners, who are never going to play together in a game. On a day, if they have a lot of left-handers in the opposition, they might not play all together and Jadeja may not even bowl his overs, so you need a bowler who can take the ball away from the batters.”
“I think Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh should have been in the team, but in place of whom is a different debate altogether. If you pick a leg-spinner, then if you don’t pick an off-spinner, it’s fine. But not picking either leg-spinner or off-spinner and going with three left-arm spinners is a bit surprising for me.”
Former Pakistan fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar was additionally left gobsmacked over Chahal’s exclusion and opined that India aren’t a settled unit but forward of the World Cup.
“Not picking Chahal is beyond me. Plus, Arshdeep has played a lot of India-Pakistan pressure games and you needed a left-arm fast-bowler.”
“The odd thing for India is that when they score 150-200, they then increase one batter and stretch it to number eight. If the top five do not bat well, how will they expect the number eight batter to come good, and what are they expecting?”
“With India, I also have this feeling that why India couldn’t pick a settled eleven in last two years -– because there were so many injuries and three-four players are back after injuries, which also needed replacements. It’s a very strange thing for me as the squad is not yet settled,” added Akhtar within the press convention.
(With inputs from ANI)
Chahal, who has been a constant performer in white-ball cricket was not thought-about after the Ajit Agarkar-led choice panel included Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as spinners within the squad.
Left-arm pacer Arshdeep additionally missed the World Cup ticket as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj together with all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur accomplished the tempo assault.
Unimpressed by Chahal’s omission, Harbhajan stated that the leg-spinner would have walked into the taking part in eleven of another crew on the planet.
“Two players are missing from the World Cup squad — Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh. The left-arm seamer could have been very useful and can swing in with the new ball because he can give early wickets. You have seen that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mitchell Starc can create a very different kind of impact. When Australia won the World Cup in 2015, Starc had a huge impact in making them win via dismissing Brendon McCullum upfront.”
“Yuzvendra Chahal is a proven match-winner, and if he were playing for any other team in the world, he would have been in the playing eleven. He has proved himself time and time again and it is unfortunate that he missed out on the Indian side. These two could have been handy, like they know the conditions very well at home,” stated Harbhajan in a digital press convention organised by Star Sports.
Harbhajan was additionally shocked over India not having any right-arm spinner, resulting in no selection within the spin bowling division, although Kuldeep is a wrist-spinner.
“We have picked up 2 left-arm spinners, who are never going to play together in a game. On a day, if they have a lot of left-handers in the opposition, they might not play all together and Jadeja may not even bowl his overs, so you need a bowler who can take the ball away from the batters.”
“I think Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh should have been in the team, but in place of whom is a different debate altogether. If you pick a leg-spinner, then if you don’t pick an off-spinner, it’s fine. But not picking either leg-spinner or off-spinner and going with three left-arm spinners is a bit surprising for me.”
Former Pakistan fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar was additionally left gobsmacked over Chahal’s exclusion and opined that India aren’t a settled unit but forward of the World Cup.
“Not picking Chahal is beyond me. Plus, Arshdeep has played a lot of India-Pakistan pressure games and you needed a left-arm fast-bowler.”
“The odd thing for India is that when they score 150-200, they then increase one batter and stretch it to number eight. If the top five do not bat well, how will they expect the number eight batter to come good, and what are they expecting?”
“With India, I also have this feeling that why India couldn’t pick a settled eleven in last two years -– because there were so many injuries and three-four players are back after injuries, which also needed replacements. It’s a very strange thing for me as the squad is not yet settled,” added Akhtar within the press convention.
(With inputs from ANI)
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com