Abdul Qadir: Blunder to omit Yuvraj and Sehwag from India's World Cup squad

Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh were left out of India’s World Cup squad

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir has said that the Indian selectors have committed a blunder by excluding Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The duo, along with Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan, weren't even named in India’s 30-man preliminary squad for the quadrennial event, slated to begin on February 14.

"I was surprised to see that but Asian teams have this habit of committing blunders. If you have players like Sehwag and Yuvraj in the team, it not only pressurises the opposition bowlers but also gives the option of playing with four regular bowlers,” the former leg-spinner told PTI Bhasha. ?

Qadir said that he was surprised by Yuvraj’s omission, in particular, considering that he was adjudged the Player-of-the-Tournament in the previous edition in 2011 and also expressed surprise over India not picking a leg-spinner in their squad.

"Yuvraj had bowled brilliantly in the last World Cup where he was also the player of the tournament. I would have also liked to see leg spinners like Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla in the team since India does not have intimidating pace bowlers," Qadir said.

The 59-year-old added that the result of the India vs. Pakistan encounter in the tournament would go a long way in deciding the fate of either team at the mega event, calling it “a final before the final”.

"The outcome of India-Pakistan match will decide their future in the tournament. It will boost the morale of the winning team and give an additional edge as well. It will surely be a final before the final, ” he said.

He further said that past results will have little bearing when the two teams meet at the Adelaide Oval on February 15.

"It will be a new match and new tournament and both the teams have equal chance. Chasing will be an advantage at Adelaide and whoever wins the toss will enjoy that advantage,” the former Pakistan selector said.

Indian players should’ve flown back home after the tri-series: Qadir

He also felt the Men in Blue would be tired after their gruelling four-match Test series against Australia and opined that some of the players should’ve been sent back home for a rest prior to the quadrennial event.

"Australia tour was beneficial as far as conditioning is concerned as they have got a chance to play at almost all the venues but Australia tour is always tiresome. Indian players will be tired and they are also away from home for so long,” he said.

“They must be missing home. They should have been sent back home for a short break after the Tri-series so that they can start afresh.”