Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra talked about the two debutants that Team India fielded in the recent first ODI against Afghanistan. This game was played in Dharamshala on June 13 and saw India handing ODI caps to pacer Gurnoor Brar and spinner Harsh Dubey.
Chopra lavished rich praise on the BCCI selection committee for backing Gurnoor Brar and picking him in the Indian squad despite him not having the stats or numbers behind him.
He emphasized that statisticians would have been appointed selectors in that situation and made the point that numbers cannot be the main criterion used when choosing players. In Dharamshala, Brar scored 3/27 in 4.5 overs as India dismissed Afghanistan for 194.
“All of us were assuming that Prince would play, and when the match was reduced to 25 overs, it's very close to the T20 format, and Gurnoor Brar hadn't come after playing T20s just now; we started thinking that Prince would definitely play. However, the Indian team had prepared their plan beforehand that they would play Gurnoor because he is tall, has a high-arm action, generates good bounce, and has pace," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"He was consistently on the other side of 145 clicks. He has been fast-tracked. Our fans lose a little objectivity at times. I am going to be objective. You are looking beyond the numbers because if only numbers are required, you can make a statistician a selector. They wanted pace and bounce, and both those things were seen in his game," he added.
When choosing players, the selectors must follow the horses-for-courses approach, according to Aakash Chopra. He stated that Gurnoor Brar was appropriately selected for the ODIs over Auqib Nabi, who has performed well in first-class cricket, emphasizing that the Jammu and Kashmir seamer won't be able to thrive in white-ball cricket until the circumstances are favorable.
Chopra also praised selectors for picking Harsh Dubey ahead of Manav Suthar in the ODI series.
"Harsh Dubey has picked up a lot of wickets in first-class cricket and has performed decently in the IPL. They are trying to groom players. Manav Suthar is made for Test cricket. So, he has been kept there. Harsh Dubey is a slightly multifaceted player. He also bats and fields well," he said.
Chopra emphasized that the Vidarbha left-arm spinner possesses the qualities required to be successful in white-ball cricket.
"His bowling style is beautiful. Even though Harsh Dubey has great first-class numbers, he goes to the corner of the box, bowls with a slight sidearm, undercuts the ball a little, and varies his pace a lot. This is almost ideal for white-ball cricket. So you will have to choose Harsh Dubey first in white-ball cricket and leave out Manav Suthar, and that is why you have a selection committee," Chopra observed.
Dubey ended with figures of 3/47 in 5 overs, dismissing Hashmatullah Shahidi, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Allah Ghazanfar.
