Asia Cup 2022: “Team India paid the price for going with raw bowlers” - Reetinder Singh Sodhi questions selection of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan

Former all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi feels that Team India took a big risk by picking the inexperienced pace duo of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan in their Asia Cup 2022 squad. He said that once Jasprit Bumrah was ruled out, the team needed the experience of Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj.

Team India suffered their second defeat in the Super 4 round of the Asia Cup on Tuesday, September 6, going down to Sri Lanka by six wickets in Dubai. Having already lost to Pakistan in their previous match, Rohit Sharma and Co,'s chances of progressing to the final now look extremely slim.

Dissecting where the Men in Blue went wrong, Sodhi questioned the choice of fast bowlers for a big tournament like the Asia Cup. He told India News:

“When India lost Bumrah to injury, they should have gone for Shami. You need experience. Arshdeep and Avesh are talented, but they lack experience, and Team India paid the price for going with raw bowlers. Also, India are preparing for a premier tournament like the T20 World Cup. They need pacers like Shami, Siraj, who have that experience.”

Elaborating on India’s bowling woes, Sodhi admitted that seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s lack of potency made matters worse for the team. He explained:

“Arshdeep struggled with the new ball. He was very good at the death, but has a lot to learn. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was completely off-color and that was the last nail in the coffin. We have been a colossal failure in bowling and now you would expect Shami to come in and fire with just a few games left for the World Cup. This is a very serious situation.”

Shami has not played a T20I for India since their World Cup match against Namibia in Dubai in November last year.

Find the Asia Cup schedule, timings, venues and match details on Sportskeeda.

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“We faced this issue during the last World Cup” - Saba Karim on Team India’s inability to pick early wickets

Chipping in with his thoughts on India’s bowling, former keeper-batter Saba Karim claimed that the situation is similar to last year's World Cup, where the Men in Blue were pedestrian in the powerplay. He stated:

“We faced this issue during the last World Cup, when we were unable to get wickets in the powerplay. Whenever Bhuvneshwar Kumar goes off-color, India have no one from the other end who can pick those early wickets, whether it is Arshdeep Singh or Avesh Khan."

Backing Shami's return to the T20I fold, he added:

“When Jasprit Bumrah is not available, Team India have to play Mohammad Shami because he is a new-ball bowler. There is Deepak Chahar as well, who can claim wickets with the new ball.”

Having recovered from injury, Chahar made a comeback to the Indian team during the ODIs in Zimbabwe. He claimed five wickets in two matches at an average of 20.40.