India’s veteran Test batter Cheteshwar Pujara has opined on the ongoing Asia Cup 2022 tournament and mentioned that the combination with which India is playing is not working for them. India lost their first match of the super 4s to Pakistan and questions have been raised about selection decisions.
Over the last few months, the likes of Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, and Deepak Hooda have been used as openers for the team. Recently, India was dealt a huge blow with Ravindra Jadeja getting injured and being ruled of the Asia Cup and possibly even the T20 World Cup as well.
While the team management called it experimentation to get an idea about the final squad for the ICC event, the changes in the squad have gone on for a long time now and many feel one core group of players must be selected and given time to play together and gel.
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Speaking on ESPNCricinfo, Pujara was asked if he would bring in Akshar Patel in the XI and will also bring in an extra seamer into the mix. India only included three pacers in the final squad for the Asia Cup and Avesh Khan has not been in the best of form and is now unwell, missing out on the Pakistan game.
"I would stick with that. I think Axar Patel should come in. I still feel that we need to change our team. This combination isn't working for us,” Pujara said.
Cheteshwar Pujara also spoke about India’s loss against Pakistan in the recent Super 4s loss and opined that the management shouldn’t expect Hardik Pandya to bowl four overs in all games.
This came after Pandya failed with the ball and the bat in the recent Pakistan match, scoring a duck and going for 44 runs in his 4 overs for one wicket. Compared to this, Pandya had picked three wickets and scored 33* in India’s win over Pakistan in the group game.
“Hardik has been bowling well, but we can’t consider him a fifth bowler. I think expecting four overs from him every time is not correct. However, we didn’t have enough choices because Avesh Khan was ill. In the future, there might be a few changes in the team, and if Hardik continues to play the role of the sixth bowler, it would be better,” Pujara noted.
He also lauded Pakistan's strategy to promote Nawaz up the batting order, which Pujara feels was the "X-factor" in the contest. Rizwan and Nawaz combined to hit the Indian bowlers for 73 runs in just 35 balls, which gave Pakistan upper hand during the run chase. Rizwan scored 71 off 51 balls, while Nawaz's 20-ball cameo saw the batter smash 42 runs at a staggering strike-rate of 210.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
