Should India re-think T20 World Cup squad? Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar have contrasting opinions
Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar
Indian Premier League 2021, currently underway in UAE, is a precursor for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup which is set to begin October 17 in UAE and Oman. For the upcoming showpiece event, Indian national selectors had picked the squad last month, before the second phase of IPL 2021 started.
Ever since the squad was announced, critics and some of the former players expressed their opinions over the snub of some top players like Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal. Most importantly, they have performed well during the IPL 2021 UAE leg.On the other hand, some selected players in the Indian squad like Rahul Chahar, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav have failed to impress so far.
As former Indian spinner, Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday (October 5) said he is still hoping to see Yuzvendra Chahal in India's T20 World Cup squad. He also advised Chahal to not bowl too slow which was one of the reasons for the spinner's exclusion from the squad. "You have given ur best as always.. keep it up.. and make sure u keep bowling the right pace. Not too slow OK..still hoping to see you in team India for T20 World Cup. Champion bowler," Harbhajan tweeted for Chahal.
Now, former India pacer Ajit Agarkar feels the selectors shouldn't make any change in the squad despite some players going through a lean patch ahead of the showpiece event in UAE.
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"In my opinion, once you have picked the squad for World Cup - barring injury - I don't think you should make any changes. Yes, there are guys at the moment who are not in their great form, but it only takes one innings - whether it's bowling or batting - to change that form around, and that could still happen before the end of the IPL," Agarkar said while speaking exclusively on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
Agarkar wants the selector to stick with the squad as only one inning (in IPL 2021) is needed for a player to regain the form.
"So, if you think that's the best 15 you've picked going to the World Cup, my personal opinion, I would stick with it, because you have got to show faith in people even when things are not looking so good, because things can turn around very quickly," Agarkar added.
India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Varun, Mohammed Shami, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan.
Standby players:Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.