Harbhajan Singh wants India to play Mohammed Shami ahead of Mohammed Siraj.
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh wants the team to play Mohammed Shami ahead of Mohammed Siraj in the Asia Cup Super 4 clash against Pakistan. Shami didn’t find a place in the Indian team for the Asia Cup opener against Pakistan, but returned to the team for the clash against Nepal after Jasprit Bumrah had flown back to Mumbai for the birth of his first child. With Bumrah set to return for the Super 4 clash on Sunday, Harbhajan wants India to go with an all-out pace attack, while urging the batters to do the job with the bat.
“I believe Shami should play. You can’t buy experience, and an experienced player like Shami sitting out, it doesn’t sit right with me. Shami should play before Siraj. If you really want to play Siraj, don’t expect batting from Shardul Thakur. You have batters till no.7, then have proper bowlers. Tell your batters to score runs, and even if we score 260, it’s the bowlers’ responsibility to defend the total,” Harbhajan said in a video on his YouTube channel.
India preferred Siraj over Shami against Pakistan last week, with Shardul Thakur in the XI as a bowling all-rounder.
Harbhajan wants India’s top-order to fire, rather than rely on Shardul for runs down the order.
“Many people say Shardul can bat and ball, I agree. But we can’t go into a game half-heartedly. Can Siraj do what Shardul does? If he can do better, strengthen the bowling and tell your batters to score,” he added.
India’s batting frailties were exposed once again last week as Pakistan’s pace trio — Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah — shared all 10 wickets.
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