Umesh Yadav was picked ahead of Deepak Chahar in the 1st T20I against Australia.
The first T20I of India's three-match series against Australia was played in Mohali on Tuesday (September 20), and former India pacer Ashish Nehra questioned why Umesh Yadav was selected over Deepak Chahar.
India’s 4-wicket loss on Tuesday despite posting a challenging 209 runs target has drawn major criticism, especially towards the Indian bowlers.
Ashish Nehra argued that Yadav's selection over Deepak Chahar, despite the latter's selection as a reserve player for the T20 World Cup 2022, is a blatant indication of confusion in the team's dressing room.
“Why is Umesh Yadav playing? You brought Shami and then you had Deepak Chahar. You said Bumrah wasn’t fit, I would also like to know why you didn’t play Deepak Chahar. There was a time when Chahar was the frontrunner to replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
“If Deepak Chahar was fit to play and Umesh Yadav has played ahead of him, then confusion to zaroor hai.” Nehra remarked on Cricbuzz.
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Additionally, RP Singh, the former cricketer, stated that there are alarming signs as a result of the frontline pacers, such as Bhuneshwar Kumar and Harshal Patel, conceding plenty of runs.
The duo gave away 108 runs together in the eight overs they bowled which is more than half of what the visitors had to chase.
“These are not good signs. Okay, in Asia Cup, we were saying that ‘we don’t have Harshal Patel and Jasprit Bumrah.’ Harshal Patel was here and he went away for runs. Who knows if Bumrah returns, he might also go for runs. So, we can’t say that someday our main players are going to return and make us win matches. The more we are nearing the T20 World Cup, our performance is dipping,” Singh told Cricbuzz.
“We might be thinking that we are experimenting and we will have our best lot, but your best lost should have been out four months ago. There is also fitness issues,” he said while citing Bumrah’s case. The pacer has been regularly kept on the sidelines on the pretext of managing workload. Even on England tour, he was dropped after a match-winning performance in the first ODI. He never played again as he was ruled out of Asia Cup after he was given ‘rest’ for Windies and Zimbabwe tours.” he added.
(CRICBUZZ INPUTS)