The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and its selection committee on Monday made a bold decision as they announced the squad for the T20 World Cup. Much to the surprise, Mohammed Shami will serve as a backup option for the team, after he was named as a stand-by. But has the selection panel led by Chetan Sharma played a master stroke by including Harshal Patel or a blunder by omitting Mohammed Shami?
Why Shami would have been effective in Australia for Team India?
- Shami's experience in Australia could have been a huge factor for team India as he knows the pitches well.
- In the 2015 ODI World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, Shami scalped 17 wickets in 7 matches.
- With the leg-cutters, Shami also is lethal in bowling short deliveries while he can make use of the bounce offered on different pitches
- The wicket at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) has a rich history of helping swing bowling rather than slower deliveries
- Shami also offers a great variety of deliveries, something that Harshal Patel cannot offer
“Australia has good bouncy wickets and short of good length deliveries will help India. Shami’s seam bowling could be a decisive factor in Australia," former T20 World Cup winner RP Singh said on India TV Cricket in an exclusive chat on Saturday.
RP Singh lamented that Harshal's slower ball might not help India on the nature of pitches offered in Australia. While Mohammed Shami's ability to use the bounce Down Under could have benefited India.
"Harshal Patel’s slower one won’t be that effective as pitches in Australia support bounce. Harshal’s big weapon is the slower delivery and in Australia, ball-cutters will be used extensively, which again makes him ineffective," the 2007 T20 World Cup winner added.
Harshal Patel on the flip side does give a different dimension to the Indian team but could prove to be ineffective. Harshal won the Purple Cap in the IPL 2021 and particularly troubled the Aussie batters. However, he has now become predictable and that could prove to be a blunder with fitness and also an issue with the pacer.
Full squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.
