Former Indian cricketer Madan Lal believes the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel will make a big mistake if they don’t pick Mohammad Shami in the T20 World Cup. Shami was not picked in the ongoing Asia Cup squad despite performing well in the recent ODI series against England.
The gun fast bowler had last played for India in the shortest format of the game in the 2021 T20 World Cup and since then he hasn’t been part of the T20I squad for any series.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Shami is not a specialist T20 bowler and thus he is not considered for selection. However, the veteran pacer had scalped 20 wickets in 16 matches for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 and had played an instrumental role in taking his team to glory.
Madan Lal said in an interview with Sportskeeda, “Shami should definitely be in the team for the T20 World Cup. He’s our best bowler after Bumrah. I would look for a bowler who could get me wickets. I don’t want bowlers who would only look to contain runs. Batters will keep scoring runs in this format. The only way to stem the flow of runs is to take wickets.”
He added, “The Indian selectors will make a big mistake if they don’t pick Shami. He’s a great bowler and has done well in Australia in the past. I don’t understand why they are not picking him for T20s. You think he’s not a better bowler than those who are playing now? He’s one of the best bowlers in world cricket.”
On the other hand, Virat Kohli showed glimpses of getting back in form in the match against Pakistan as he scored 35 runs. However, Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms but Lal has put his weight behind the talisman.
The 1983 World Cup winner said, “I still think Virat is India’s biggest match-winner. He’s such a great player that he knows how to adjust his game. If he’s hitting the ball in the nets, he’ll go into the matches with a lot of confidence. No matter whether he’s in form or not, the opposition teams will always be scared of Virat.”
He continued, “I don’t think there will be too much pressure on Virat. People aren’t talking about him as much as they did a couple of months ago. As they say, ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent.’ Form can come back any time.”
Former Indian cricketer Madan Lal believes the Chetan Sharma-led selection panel will make a big mistake if they don’t pick Mohammad Shami in the T20 World Cup. Shami was not picked in the ongoing Asia Cup squad despite performing well in the recent ODI series against England.
India will face Hong Kong in their second match of the Asia Cup on Wednesday.
