Sunil Gavaskar Picks India's Asia Cup XI, Gives Blunt Verdict On Two Stars: "Have To Wait..."
India will be going into the upcoming Asia Cup with a 15-member squad. Both Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube have been named in the team.
- Sunil Gavaskar has opined one among Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube might have to sit out of India's Asia Cup XI
- While Dube offers an all-round option with batting and medium fast bowling, Rinku plays as a finisher
- "Looks like somebody like Rinku and Shivam might have to wait a bit before they get an opportunity," he said
India will be going into the upcoming Asia Cup with a 15-member squad. The continental event will be played from September 9 to 28. While only 11 could make it to the matches, four of the players from the squad are going to warm the bench. Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar is of the opinion that one among Rinku Singh or Shivam Dube might have to sit out. While Dube offers an all-round option with batting and medium fast bowling, Rinku plays in the team as a finisher.
"...with Axar Patel also likely to play in this side as a left-hander and somebody who can bowl good four overs, it looks like somebody like Rinku and Shivam might have to wait a bit before they get an opportunity." Gavaskar told mediapersons during an interaction as quoted by PTI.
For Gavaskar, the two spinners who would start are Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav and he thinks that a third specialist pacer in Harshit Rana will find his place in the squad. Notably, the pacer has been preferred over the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami.
"My feeling is that they might not extend the batting to No. 8 and look for the bowlers, maybe Kuldeep at 8 and then 9, 10, 11, your 3 fast bowlers," said Gavaskar.
"So it actually makes it 4 fast bowlers when you include Hardik Pandya and two spinners as six bowlers in your team, which is always very good to have because sometimes if one bowler is having a bad day, you want somebody else who can come in and bowl for him," he added.
Gavaskar also made it clear that Jasprit Bumrah will have no workload related issues since it will be only four overs of bowling per match and that too in two or three spells.
"In this Asia Cup, it is just a question of bowling four overs and that too it is not four overs at a stretch...So I don't think there will be any problem for him to play this tournament," he said.
"I mean there will be no workload problem for him because he has to bowl only four overs and there can be no problem," Gavaskar added.
(With PTI Inputs)
India Cricket Team
Sunil Gavaskar