Washington Sundar is the off-spinner that India will need in World T20, opines Saba Karim
Karim feels that Washington will be key for India
|Saba Karim has picked his 15-member India squad, which he believes is the one that should play in the ICC T20 World Cup in October where players like Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Washington Sundar and Shreyas Iyer were selected. Shikhar Dhawan and Yuzvendra Chahal's names could not meet the list.
With just a couple of months left for the ICC T20 World Cup to kick off in October, the Indian selectors will have all their eyes on the players’ performance in England and IPL to select the best squad for the marquee event.
Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Saba Karim has created his 15-member India squad for the World T20 where off-spinner Washington Sundar and middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer have secured their places. Washington Sundar, who recently returned to India from England after fracturing his finger, is useful to bowl early overs in the powerplay and given the spin-friendly conditions in UAE, Karim feels the need for an off-spinner.
"There should be consistency in selection. Because of that, I have kept Washington Sundar in my team. I feel that with the matches happening in the UAE, you will need an off-spinner there and he is kind of an all-rounder,” Karim said on India News.
Shreyas Iyer, who last made his international appearance in March, was ruled out of the IPL after sustaining a shoulder injury in the ODI series against England. Iyer hit 67 against England in the first T20I and made 519 runs from 17 innings at the strike rate of 123.28 in IPL 2020. Karim thinks there is no point in dropping the Delhi Capitals skipper from the Indian team.
"I have kept Shreyas Iyer because he was also in the team which had played against England and his performance was quite good there. He couldn't play the IPL this year but his performance in the IPL was quite good last year. So, there has to be a basis to keep him out of the team," Karim said.
Mumbai Indians leg-spinner Rahul Chahar impressed everyone with the limited opportunities he gained in the Sri Lanka tour and bowled up to his potential taking three wickets in the final T20I while conceding only 15 runs. Karim included Chahar as team’s third spinner and also named Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was the vice-captain for India in the Sri Lanka leg, in the squad based on his comeback.
"I have kept Rahul Chahar because I feel he is an attacking bowler, a wicket-taking bowler, a match-winner. And I am still keeping Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the team because I feel his form is coming back and he will be very essential for the Indian team."
Surprisingly, RCB’s ace spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan, who was appointed as the captain for the Sri Lanka tour, both couldn’t find a spot in Karim’s 15-member squad. Karim said that he picked the team while examining the players who were in England and performed well but did not play in Sri Lanka.
"The team that was chosen by the selectors for the series against England, there were around 17 players there, I have started choosing my team from there. The players who performed well there and have not got an opportunity on the Sri Lanka tour because they were in England, you don't have any excuse to keep them out," Karim mentioned.
Saba Karim's chosen 15-member Indian squad for the T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Deepak Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
