India’s squad for the World Cup had no big surprises and Rohit Sharma has backed his players whom he had in mind barring two players, Sanju Samson and the young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who is not in the main squad, but in the reserves.
I clearly remember Rohit Sharma mentioning Samson as one of the key players he would like to have for the Australian wickets and the team management sees a lot of potential in him. The skipper further added that his ability to play shots on the backfoot on bouncy wickets would come in handy.
Surprisingly, Samson was not picked for the Asia Cup after the West Indies tour, where he did not get too many chances and did nothing wrong not to be selected. India, instead, went in for Deepak Hooda, which I believe because of his ability to bowl off-spin that might come in handy on big Australian grounds.
Too many chances for Pant
Fans feel Samson has been meted the same treatment as Ambati Raydu, who was similarly discarded before the 2019 World Cup.
Many of the view that Rishab Pant has been given too many chances despite of his continuous failures, as compared to Samson. Pant batting left-handed could have gone in his favour.
Mystery spinner Ravi Bishnoi is still an unknown commodity in international scene and has the wicket-taking abilities with a good record against left-handers. But the selectors opted for the experience of Ravichandran Ashwin, who has suddenly come into focus after a long time. The only thing, I feel, that went in Ashwin’s favour is that he could bat better compared to Bishnoi.
This is Rohit Sharma’s last Twenty20 World Cup and so is Virat Kohli’s. One wonders if India have made the right choice to end a long title drought, after winning the first edition in 2007. We will wait and watch.
