Asia Cup 2022: Mohammed Shami sitting at home and cooling his heels baffles me – Ravi Shastri

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri is perplexed as Mohammad Shami is not considered for T20I selection. Shastri said Shami sitting at home and cooling his heels baffles him. Shami hasn’t been considered for the T20I team by the national selectors and had last played in the shortest format of the game for the national team in the 2021 T20 World Cup.

The gun fast bowler had done a fine job in the recent ODI series against England. Furthermore, Shami had bowled at the top of his game for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022. He had scalped 20 wickets in 16 matches for the Hardik Pandya-led team and he had played an instrumental role in the success of the side.

However, the national selectors picked Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan for the Asia Cup as bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were ruled out due to their respective injuries. Furthermore, India had racked up their spin bowling attack as they picked Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravi Bishnoi.

“When you need to win, you got to prepare better,” Shastri told Star Sports. “I think the selection could have been better, especially for the fast bowlers. You know the conditions here. There’s not much in it for the spinners. I was quite surprised that you came here with just four fast bowlers [including Hardik].

“You needed that extra one… Someone like Mohammed Shami sitting at home and cooling his heels baffles me. After the IPL he had, for him not to be able to make the cut is… Obviously, I’m seeing something different.”

Shami had impressed with his PowerPlay bowling in the IPL as he had consistently got the ball to swing in the first six overs and had an economy rate of 6.62. But the veteran pacer was taken for runs in the death overs as his economy rate was 9.63.

Shami also has an economy rate of 9.55 while playing for the national team. There is no doubt that he has great skills of moving the ball both ways in the PowerPlay overs but he isn’t regarded as the best death bowler in the world. However, Shami has all the experience under his belt and he can definitely add value to the team.