T20 World Cup is around the corner and after a horror show in last year’s showpiece event, expectations are high from India to redeem themselves in the Australian conditions. The Men in Blue have played some dominant cricket this year in the shortest format but the Asia Cup turned out to be a reality check for Rohit Sharma and Co. India struggled in the multi-nation tournament and failed to reach the final as it also exposed some of their flaws which the team management failed to rectify earlier due to their experimentation process in recent times.
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The Asian Giants used several team combinations in every series this year yet it didn’t allow them to find the right combination for the T20 World Cup. The constant rest given to the players is now backfiring for them as the team selection for the T20 World Cup has also raised several eyebrows.
In the bowling department, the selection committee snubbed Mohammed Shami from the 15-member squad as he has been included in the reserves. However, several cricket critics feel he should have been there in the fifteen for his ability to swing the ball both ways with seam. He also has the pace and bounce to exploit the Australian conditions.
Shami has played only 17 T20Is for India after making his international debut in 2013. In IPL 2022, the 32-year-old claimed 20 wickets in 16 matches and played a crucial role in Gujarat Titans’ title triumph in their maiden season.
After last year’s T20 World Cup, Shami has not played any T20I match for India. However, after India’s poor show in Asia Cup 2022, he has been recalled to the team for Australia T20Is but he got infected with COVID-19 and was ruled out of the three-match series. He will be next seen in action against South Africa in the three-match T20I series before flying with the Indian team to Australia for T20 WC as a standby player.
In the chosen squad, India picked Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel as their frontline pacers. Among the four, only Bumrah is known for clicking 140-plus kph at regular intervals.
In an exclusive conversation with News18 Cricketnext, 2007 T20 World Cup winner S Sreesanth talked about India’s squad selection as he feels the players who missed out on the 15-member squad have to work hard and wait for their opportunity.
“See, whoever gets the opportunity for India, I’m very confident that they deserve it. Whoever doesn’t get the opportunity have to just work hard and wait for it. I genuinely hope that BCCI has done justice in giving opportunities to all the youngsters and seniors," Sreesanth told News18 Cricketnext.
Sreesanth played a pivotal role in India’s historic victory in the 2007 T20 WC final against Pakistan as he grabbed the all-important catch of Misbah-ul-Haq on Joginder Sharma’s delivery which helped MS Dhoni and Co. lift the coveted trophy.
The former pacer, who is currently playing in the Legends League Cricket 2022, feels that all the concerned parties involved in team selection have picked their best 15 players for the T20 World Cup in Australia.
“We have had a lot of players in the past 10 years, so whoever the BCCI and selectors, the coach and the captain think are the best for this World Cup… they are in the squad," Sreesanth said.
Talking about Shami’s absence from the squad, Sreesanth suggested that the premier pacer has to work on his fitness as he feels that the 32-year-old can be much more flexible.
“If Shami has missed out, I genuinely hope he works on his fitness and comes back strong. It’s a T20 World Cup, not a fifty-over (World Cup) or Test cricket. Shami is fit, but he can be much more flexible. He is a great bowler with seam, and he adds a lot of dimension (to the team), but I genuinely want him to be more fit," he added.
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