Asia Cup 2022: "Deepak Chahar is slightly unfortunate" - Rajkumar Sharma on the swing bowler not being part of India's squad
Virat Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma feels Deepak Chahar is slightly unfortunate not to be picked in the Indian squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022.
The selectors have picked only three seamers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan - in India's 15-member squad for the tournament to be played in the UAE from August 27. Chahar is one of the three reserve players picked, along with Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer.
During a discussion on India News Sports, Sharma was asked about Team India having the same stand-by players who were there at last year's T20 World Cup. He responded:
"It is a huge coincidence that it is the same three players. I would say Deepak Chahar, who has given fantastic performances in T20 cricket always, is slightly unfortunate."
While agreeing with the selectors for keeping Axar only in the reserves, Sharma reckons Chahar merited a place in the main squad. The former first-class cricketer reasoned:
"You can agree about Axar Patel that Ravindra Jadeja is there, so he has to wait. But Deepak Chahar could have probably got a place in this team and he could have played a very important role. He is a proven bowler, everyone knows he has the ability to swing the ball."
Chahar, who missed the entire IPL 2022, last played an international game in February this year. The swing bowler has been picked for the upcoming ODI series against Zimbabwe and might have to prove his fitness to make a return to a full-strength Indian side.
"They can give you early wickets" - Rajkumar Sharma on Deepak Chahar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowling in tandem
Rajkumar Sharma believes Bhuvneshwar and Chahar could have formed a potent new-ball pair. He elaborated:
"So if Bhuvi bowls from one end and Deepak Chahar from the other, they can make inroads into any good batting lineup, they can give you early wickets. So he was one bowler who could have suited this moment but unfortunately, he was not picked."
Sharma feels the Men in Blue might be light in the seam-bowling department. He explained:
"It is a big concern that India is going with just three fast bowlers and in that also, two fast bowlers have not played a lot of international cricket."
The 57-year-old added:
"They have definitely shown promise, I have no doubt about their ability, but in such an important tournament, probably India needed a little more experience and it would have been better for the Indian team if either Shami or Chahar had been there."
Deepak Chahar said, "I'm fully fit now. Looking forward to contribute in team's win. My aim is to win the T20 World Cup for India". (To News24 Sports).
The selectors might have selected one spinner too many considering that the fresh pitches in the UAE are likely to favor the seamers. On the flip side, the Indian think tank's intention could be to give Arshdeep and Avesh as many games as possible before finalizing their seam-bowling attack for the T20 World Cup.