Former BCCI selector Sarandeep Singh highlighted the selection howlers in the T20 World Cup squad and said though Rohit Sharma is the obvious choice to lead the side in white-ball formats, he can’t be a long-term option.
Also after the T20 World Cup 2021, Virat Kohli will step down as India captain in the shortest format and Rohit Sharma is the top contender to lead India going forward.
“Rohit is a good choice (for white-ball captaincy), he is among your best batters. But the call the selection committee has to make is whether to make him captain for couple of years (till 2023 ODI World Cup) or find a leader who can lead the team for a long time. If they are looking at the bigger picture, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant are good choices,” Sarandeep told PTI.
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Sarandeep further said that not playing Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the game against New Zealand was a massive mistake. He also questioned why Hardik Pandya was included in the India squad if he was not fully fit.
“If you lose one game with your best eleven, you don’t make drastic changes, you have to stick to it. Bhuvi should have never been dropped. If at all you had to bring in Shardul, you should have dropped Hardik, who is not the player he is used to be. Why would you pick Hardik when he is not fit enough for his all-around skills? He has not bowled regularly for two years now,” said the former India spinner.
Sarandeep put forth the exclusions of Yuzvendra Chahal and Akshar Patel as examples of baffling selection choices.
“Some of the selection calls were beyond me. Shami is one of India’s best bowlers but he is not as effective in T20s as he is in Tests and ODIs. Axar Patel was earlier in the squad but you brought Shardul in his place. He could have been your main bowler.
Yuzi Chahal was performing for the last four-five overs and you don’t keep him in the squad. You say that he doesn’t bowl fast enough but we have been taught from day one that spinners are supposed to bowl slow and flight the ball,” he said.
While India has played badly in the tournament, Sarandeep feels they are not a bad team.
“What we need to realize is that other teams have actually become better. India remains a good team but needs to catch up with others as it has been shown in this tournament,” he added.
(PTI inputs)
