Ravi Shastri expressed his confusion with the decision to leave Mohammed Shami off of India’s squad for the Asia Cup match against Sri Lanka.
After losing two matches in a row at the Asia Cup and failing to defend respectable totals in both of those matches, India is on the verge of being eliminated from the Super 4 Stage of the continental event. They had a previous loss while defending 181/7 against Pakistan on Sunday, and then they had another loss while defending 173/8 against Sri Lanka on Tuesday night.
During the match that India was playing against Pakistan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar of India gave up 19 runs in the 19th over. In the match that was played against Sri Lanka, he was responsible for giving up 14 runs in the 19th over. Both performances were extremely detrimental to India’s prospects of winning their respective matches, and it showed.
Ravi Shastri, a former coach for the Indian cricket team, remarked that the team needed at least one more excellent bowler after their loss to Sri Lanka. Shastri made this observation while analysing the match. Mohammed Shami was not included in the squad for the Asia Cup, in contrast to the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who was sidelined by injury.
“If you want to succeed, you have to improve your preparation. I believe that the selection could have been improved, particularly with regard to the quick bowlers, given that you are familiar with the conditions here. There wasn’t much that could be done with the spinner.
It took me by complete surprise when I saw that you had only brought four fast bowlers with you. You were going to need that additional item. My head is spinning when I think about someone like Mohammed Shami relaxing at home and taking it easy. In light of the fact that he participated in the Indian Premier League, it is evident that my perception is clouded by some other factor “On Star Sports, Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying.
Wasim Akram, a former captain of Pakistan, asked Shastri after he had given his opinion, “Does the coach have input in selecting the team?” Shastri answered in the affirmative. The former head coach of Team India provided the following response to this: “He does, but we have decided not to include him in the selection. He is limited to making contributions along the lines of “this is the combination we want,” after which it is the responsibility of the captain in the meeting to move that idea forward.”
“There ought to have been one more quick bowler available. There is one fewer spinner in the 15-16. You definitely don’t want to find yourself in a predicament in which one of the guys has a fever and you have no one else to play with. You are required to play another spinner, which in the end may prove to be embarrassing “he continued his statement.
In the game, the Sri Lankans got off to a blazing start while chasing what appeared to be a par score at the innings break. Openers Kusal Mendis (57 off 37 balls) and Pathum Nissanka (52 off 37 balls) put on 91 runs at a rapid clip. Pathum Nissanka scored his runs off 37 balls.
Both batters were consistently finding the gaps and the boundaries with consummate ease, putting huge pressure on the Indian bowling attack that appeared bewildered against the optimistic approach adopted by the two Sri Lankan hitters. The fifty was reached in the sixth over.
However, Yuzvendra Chahal, a leg-spinner, had other plans, as he struck twice in the 12th over to put a stop to Sri Lanka’s advance.
Following the dismissal of Danushka Gunathilaka (1) by Ravichandran Ashwin in the 14th over, Sri Lanka found themselves in a precarious position with 110 runs for three.
Mendis, who was batting for Sri Lanka, was dismissed by Chahal for a major wicket in the very first delivery of the next over. This was a devastating blow for Sri Lanka, as Mendis was given out leg before wicket.
