Asia Cup 2023: Former cricketer questions India's Playing XI vs Pak, says 'this shows signs of insecurity'
Asia Cup 2023: Former cricketer questions India's Playing XI vs Pak, says 'this shows signs of insecurity'
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has questioned the Indian team’s selection in the Asia Cup clash against Pakistan at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele. India who opted to choose Shradul Thakur over Mohammed Shami for the clash started on a poor note as they lost star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma early in the innings. According to Manjrekar, India may have missed out on a trick by not playing Mohammed Shami as they lacked confidence in their current batting line-up.
Manjrekar questions selection
"Hearing murmurs that India wanted batting depth. But nobody is talking about bowling depth. Shardul Thakur is in and I am slightly against this thought. Is Mohammed Shami more a threat to Pakistan batters or Shardul Thakur?
"I wouldn't worry about batting depth. Somebody like a Shami on this pitch, especially when we have seen the ball moving around India should have gone in with 3 genuine bowlers - Bumrah, Shami, and Siraj, just like Pakistan have done," Manjrekar told Star Sports.
India opted to choose Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, and Kuldeep Yadav as natural bowling options while Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur came in as bowling all-rounder options in the team. India also opted to bring in Shreyas Iyer in the team having missed the last few months due to injury. India also opted to go for Ishan Kishan as a natural wicketkeeper option with KL Rahul not available for the group stage. This prompted India to drop Suryakumar Yadav in the Playing XI.
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India make poor start
At the time of writing, India were 111/4 with Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya in the middle. The Men in Blue lost Rohit Sharma (11) and Virat Kohli (4) early while Shreyas Iyer scored 14 on his return to the Indian team. Shubman Gill stayed in the middle for India but ultimately was dismissed for 10. For Pakistan Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf both scalped two wickets each to give the Men in Green a good start.
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