Former India pacer and a key member of the 2011 World Cup winning team, Zaheer Khan has suggested that India should drop Shardul Thakur and pick R Ashwin at the number 8 position for their World Cup 2023 opening match against Australia on Sunday in Chennai.
The Indian team looks much settled and the first-choice eleven for the Australia game is seemingly very predictable, although the recent development of Shubman Gill being ruled out due to fever and dengue might throw some curveball to Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid; Ishan Kishan seems the likeliest replacement for Gill.
Coming to the bowling department, Bumrah, Siraj, Kuldeep, along with two all-rounders in Hardik and Jadeja are set in stone. The debate for the number 8 position remains between Ashwin and Shardul.
Zaheer Khan explains that since the match is in Chennai, where the surface favors spinners, Ashwin should get the nod over Thakur.
“When you are playing in Chennai, the first discussion should be about accommodating three spinners. With Hardik Pandya there, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will be the two frontline seamers. I feel that all three spinners will be in the playing XI. Shardul Thakur will have to miss out,” Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
We have a very strong spin department with Ashwin: Sehwag
R Ashwin had made his return last month in the ODIs also against Australia, where he picked 4 wickets in 2 ODIs, including the wickets of Warner and Labuschagne with smartly crafted carrom balls.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag, too, is of the opinion that R Ashwin will play against Australia; Sehwag cited some apparent weaknesses of the Aussie batters against spinners.
“You generally associate slow and turning wickets with Chennai. We have a very strong spin department with Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravindra Jadeja.
“We have seen very recently that Australia have struggled against spin. They lost the first two games. There wasn’t much turn in the third ODI, which is why they played better and won,” Sehwag asserted.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
