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Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag believes Team India missed the services of experienced pacer Mohammad Shami in their disappointing Asia Cup 2022 campaign.
Shami hasn't played an international match in the shortest format since last year's T20 World Cup, something that has baffled former cricketers like Sehwag.
Team India named just three specialist fast bowlers in Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the Asia Cup. However, Sehwag felt that in the absence of Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah due to injury, the team management should have backed Shami.
Speaking to Cricbuzz after India's win over Afghanistan, Sehwag explained why Shami will be more than handy in Australia, where this year's T20 World Cup is set to take place. He said:
"It's a wrong thought process (about Shami not being in T20I plans). Two years ago, even [Ravichandran] Ashwin wasn't in your plans. But if your two bowlers were injured, you could have picked Shami for his experience in the Asia Cup."
Sehwag went on to add:
"When Avesh was unavailable, Shami would have played. I understand you want to give youngsters a chance, but in Australia you also need experience. Shami will be handy on those fast pitches."
Captain and coach don't fancy Mohammad Shami: Ajay Jadeja
Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja was also present on the Cricbuzz panel alongside Sehwag. He opined that there was no point in discussing Mohammad Shami since captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid didn't seem to have him in their plans.
Jadeja added that the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Arshdeep Singh had been picked in the Asia Cup squad based on their 2022 Indian Premier League performances.
Given that that was the case, he added that Mohammad Shami shouldn't have been ignored since he was a crucial part of the Gujarat Titans' title win. Shami ended IPL 2022 with 20 wickets in 16 matches.
On this, he stated:
"When you picked players on IPL performances, then you should have noticed that Shami picked up wickets in his first and last ball last season."
Jadeja added:
"So from the selection of players, it is clear that the captain and coach don't fancy him and they want to play in a certain way. So, it doesn't matter what I think of Shami and it is too late to make that change now."
With Bumrah and Harshal Patel set to return soon, Shami looks likely to miss out on India's squad for this year's T20 World Cup.
Will Mohammad Shami make a sensational return to India's T20I squad for the World Cup Down Under? Let us know in the comments.
