Team India stands among the cricketing superpowers across the globe but what it’s also a fact that it hasn’t laid its hands on an ICC Trophy 2023. The hunt got extended after Rohit Sharma & Co were mowed down by England in the T20 World Cup semi-final. As the team’s vision is to repeat history at home next year in the 50-over World Cup, the team selection will one of the key aspects to decide India’s fate.
After the Chetan Sharma-led selection committee was sacked, the new body is yet to be appointed. They will have the onus to field a bunch of 15 who would rightfully help the team achieve its goal. But before that happens, former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif has raised a point of backing players.
In the past 12 months, the Indian team management has predominantly followed the hit-and-trial method with its large pool of players. Since it turned out to be ineffective in getting India a world title, Kaif was of the opinion that the team should back players who they want to play in the 2023 World Cup.
Speaking with Amazon Prime Video, Kaif questioned Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s absence from the ongoing New Zealand ODIs.
“Why is Bhuvneshwar Kumar not in the squad, I have no clue. He’s a good bowler, but not part of the squad. In the search for new players, we are losing out on the old ones. There’s a saying: in search of diamonds, we lost the gold,” Kaif said.
“You had good players in the squad so this shouldn’t be the case. If you’re backing someone, please do it nicely. The preparation starts from here, there’s no time for experiments. The months will pass, and suddenly you’ll find yourself approaching the World Cup. So, you decide on the players and keep backing them,” he added.
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Kaif further pointed out the exclusion of Umran Malik from India’s T20 World Cup squad and stated that he should be backed well.
“Umran Malik, the extra pace that we often talk about, (Jasprit) Bumrah got injured at the T20 World Cup, there was no one with that kind of pace. The three pacers – Arshdeep (Singh), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and (Mohammed) Shami all three of them bowl nearly at the same pace. In the World Cup, we missed someone, who can bowl 145 cases per hour. Someone like Umran Malik, definitely, back him from here on,” Kaif concluded.
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