Asia Cup 2022 | Someone like Mohammed Shami sitting at home and cooling his heels baffles me, comments Ravi Shastri

09/07/2022

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Ravi Shastri believes that India missed a trick by picking four fast bowlers in the Asia Cup squad instead of five, and a talisman such as Mohammed Shami getting dropped from the mega event has left him surprised. India have suffered their second successive defeat, most recently against Sri Lanka.

After enduring back-to-back defeats in the Super Four of the ongoing Asia Cup, India are on the way to being eliminated from the ongoing tournament. Their recent loss came against Sri Lanka on Tuesday in Dubai where Dasun Shanaka and Co. chased down a stiff target of 174 in 19.5 overs with four wickets in hand. While spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal provided their side with breakthroughs, pacers, consisting of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, and Hardik Pandya remained wicketless after a combined 12 overs.

Speaking on host broadcaster Star Sports after the match ended, former India head coach Ravi Shastri made a bold statement regarding India's selection for the tournament. Shastri remarked the BCCI should have made the selection better, and one of the major missing, according to him, was an extra fast bowler. Then he went on to say that India paid the price by dropping Mohammed Shami from such a big event.

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"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 wasn't much for the spinner. I was quite surprised that you came here with just 4 fast bowlers. 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 am seeing something different," Ravi Shastri said on Star Sports after India versus Sri Lanka match.

"There should have been one extra fast bowler. One spinner less in the 15-16. 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 with. You have to play another spinner which can be embarrassing in the end."

India will hope to see Afghanistan beat Pakistan on Wednesday to keep their chances alive in the Asia Cup.