A day after India qualified for the Asia Cup Super 4s, the BCCI men's selection committee announced a 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, slated to get underway on October 5 in Ahmedabad.
Barring Tilak Varma, Prasidh Krishna and standby player Sanju Samson, all the other members, who are currently featuring in the Asia Cup, found a place in the World Cup squad.
There were concerns raised over KL Rahul’s match fitness but the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel included him in the World Cup squad as well.
Reflecting on India’s line-up for the showpiece tournament, former spinner Harbhajan Singh on Thursday (September 7) said that leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh should have been picked in the World Cup squad.
“I think there are two people missing in this team. First, Yuzvendra Chahal, and second, Arshdeep Singh. Because a left-arm seamer, if he can bring the new ball inside, it makes it useful in the game,” Harbhajan said during a virtual press conference organised by Star Sports.
“If he can get two wickets early in the game, I’m not saying that right-handers can’t do that, but a left-hand seamer can get an actual angle to get the wicket.”
Harbhajan further cited the example of Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi and Australia’s Mitchell Starc.
“You can see how Shaheen Shah Afridi or Mitchell Starc, they have a huge impact on the game. When Australia won the World Cup, Mitchell Starc had a huge impact on the games; he sent Brendan McCullum out on the first ball. Incoming ball, with that speed, coming into a right-hander is always challenging,” he stated.
Commenting on Chahal’s omission, Harbhajan said: “Chahal is a proven match winner, someone who has taken more number of wickets than any other spinner, and if he was playing for any other country, I think he would have been in the playing XI all the time.
“Despite proving so much, I think he should be in the team. If I was part of the management, I would definitely keep him in the team. Because we are all stakeholders of Indian cricket. And we want Indian cricket to do well.
“These two guys could have been very handy in the World Cup, especially in conditions where they know what to do and how to take wickets. So, I believe these two guys, simply in India, have missed it.”
Harbhajan said he was surprised to see that there is no right-arm spinner in India’s World Cup squad.
“We have chosen two left-arm spinners, and both of them will never play in the same match. The day Ravindra Jadeja plays, Akshar won’t.
“And it’s also possible that when there are a lot of left-handers in the opposition, Jadeja may not even bowl. That day, you need a bowler who can take the ball away of the left-arm batters.
“So, Chahal and Arshdeep should have been in the team, but in whose place could be a big debate. When you are picking three spinners, it should have been a combination of left-arm plus an off-spinner or leg-spinner. But I’m astonished when you are neither picking a leg-spinner nor an off-spinner, and taking two left-armers.”
