Dubai, Aug 13 (PTI) Australian legend Ricky Ponting feels Mohammed Shami’s solidarity lies in the longest cricket formats and there are better fast bowlers in India’s T20 squad, saying something regarding his absence from Asia Cup selection.
India’s squad for upcoming Asia Cup 2002 was declared on 8th, Aug. India’s squad for Asia Cup 2022: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan.
India has picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh as the three expert quick bowlers with all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
Ricky Ponting says there are better alternatives for Shami in Indian T20 Squad
“He’s (Shami) been a very, very good bowler for India for a long time now. If you look at his strengths, his Test cricket is probably where he thrives the most,” Ponting, a two-time World Cup-winning captain, said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.
“I think there are better fast bowlers in Indian T20 cricket than Shami and they’ve only named three (for the Asia Cup). So if there’s potentially four named in the squad he might be the fourth man in.” With Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel’s nursing injuries, many felt Shami might be included to share the new-ball duties during the Asia Cup.
“I would think they’ll probably only have the four quicks coming to Australia. They’ll still want to bring a lot of spins here even though the wickets are probably not that conducive,” Ponting said.
“To be totally honest it’s one that we’ve been starved of, haven’t we … looking back the last 15 or 20 years,” Ponting said.
The Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and Sharjah from August 27 to September 11 and Ponting picked India as the favorites to win the tournament.
“It’s always hard to go past India in any tournament, not just an Asia Cup, but I think every time we talk about the T20 World Cup which is coming up, I think that India will be right in the thick of it there,” the 47-year-old said.
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