Former India captain Anil Kumble believes that Mohammed Shami should start in place of Shardul Thakur for the group-stage match against Afghanistan on October 11 in Delhi. The right-arm pacer was the star performer for the Men in Blue in the 2019 World Cup against Afghanistan including a hat-trick in England.
With Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami is vying for a berth in the starting XI as the third-choice pacer, the Bengal pacer has put his best foot forward to be part of the playing 11 with an impressive five-for against Australia in the first game of the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against Australia.
Speaking on Espncricinfo, Anil Kumble urged the Indian team management to use Mohammed Shami for the game against Afghanistan in place of Shardul Thakur, if the Indian think tank plans to drop Ravichandran Ashwin for the game in Delhi and believes that India needs quality new-ball bowlers to dismiss the Afghanistan top-order batters.
“I know India have used Shardul Thakur, but I would lean towards having a Mohammed Shami in terms of quality and ability that he brings in because you look at Afghanistan, Gurbaz has been their go-to player and he is in great form, so you would want to get Gurbaz early with three quality opening bowlers,” Anil Kumble said.
India will be aiming for an almost faultless performance against Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup on Wednesday in New Delhi after some really difficult conditions in their tournament-opening encounter against Australia in Chennai.
Before the World Cup, India made it straightforward that they wouldn’t pick all four of their best bowlers at once. They almost always chose three of them with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja playing as primary all-rounders in the game, which eventually means Shardul Thakur or Ravichandran Ashwin joining them in the playing 11 depending on the conditions.
The Men in Blue’s bowling was flawless against Australia on the spin-friendly conditions of Chepauk, as many as six wickets fell during the middle overs.
If India does not bring three spinners for the game against Afghanistan, Mohammed Shami can take the place of R Ashwin, who had a decent outing in the previous game. That might be the only change to the starting lineup with Shubman Gill ruled out of the game due to dengue.