Overview:
He has picked up nine wickets in five Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches, including a four-wicket haul in the last contest.
Gautam Gambhir as a head coach and Ajit Agarkar as a chief selector have made controversial selection calls in recent months. They are not bothered about the results and are more interested in keeping experience and match-winners out of the squad. Mohammed Shami has been at the receiving end of their strange and surprising calls. The veteran is in form in domestic cricket across formats, but the decision-makers have completely forgotten him.
India missed him in the two-match Test series against South Africa, but the selection committee didn’t learn from their mistakes and snubbed him for the ongoing series.
Former players are baffled and are questioning Shami’s absence from the Indian team. He has picked up nine wickets in five Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy matches, including a four-wicket haul in the last contest. Harbhajan Singh has slammed the team management for Shami’s omission.
“Where is Shami? I don’t know why he is not playing. Prasidh Krishna is in the team, and he is a good bowler, but he still has to learn a lot. You had good bowlers, but you have sidelined them. With Bumrah in the team, the bowling attack looks different, and when he is not playing, the situation becomes different altogether. We have to learn how to win matches without Bumrah,” Harbhajan Singh said.
The 45-year-old mentioned that India don’t have match-winning bowlers in white-ball cricket, calling it a big concern. “Siraj was magnificent without Bumrah in England. India won the Test matches where Bumrah didn’t play. But we need bowlers who can win matches in shorter formats. Find spinners who can take wickets. We have Kuldeep Yadav, but what about others?” he added.
Bhajji wants the team management to include Varun Chakravarthy in ODIs. “Varun should play in ODIs. He is doing well in T20Is, and you can try him in the fifty-over format,” he mentioned.
He commented after India failed to defend 358 in the second ODI against South Africa in Raipur. The Proteas won the match by 4 wickets and levelled the series 1-1, wth the final game scheduled on December 6.