"Shreyas Iyer in T20 cricket when you have Sanju Samson, Hooda and Ishan Kishan" - Venkatesh Prasad slams India's team selection
Former cricketer Venkatesh Prasad has called out India's baffling selection calls in the first T20I against West Indies on Friday (July 29) at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad.
The Men in Blue picked Shreyas Iyer ahead of in-form Deepak Hooda and Ishan Kishan in the series opener, which left many surprised, including Prasad. Sanju Samson, who replaced KL Rahul in the squad, was also not considered for the first game.
The former fast bowler cited that management should work towards finding the right balance with the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled to take place in a few months time. Taking to Twitter, Venkatesh Prasad wrote:
"Some of the selection calls keeping the upcoming World T20 in mind are worth pondering. Shreyas Iyer in T20 cricket when you have Sanju Samson, Hooda and Ishan Kishan in the team is bizarre. With Virat, Rohit and Rahul definite starters, need to work on getting right balance."
Some of the selection calls keeping the upcoming World T20 in mind are worth pondering. Shreyas Iyer in T20 cricket when you have Sanju Samson, Hooda and Ishan Kishan in the team is bizarre. With Virat, Rohit and Rahul definite starters ,need to work on getting right balance.
Shreyas, meanwhile, failed to capitalize on the opportunity, getting out for a duck. In another tweet, Prasad suggested that India had better T20 players and that Shreyas needs to work on his skills for the shortest format of the game.
"He is good in 50 over cricket. In T20 cricket, there are better players as of now who can get going from the word go. Shreyas will have to work hard on his skills for T20," the former cricketer wrote.
@dsom491 He is good in 50 over cricket. In T20 cricket, there are better players as of now who can get going from the word go. Shreyas will have to work hard on his skills for T20
India beat West Indies convicingly to go 1-0 up
Rohit Sharma and Co. thrashed West Indies by 68 runs on Friday to go 1-0 up in the five-match series in Trinidad.
The Men in Blue rode on superlative knocks from Rohit Sharma (62) and Dinesh Karthik (41* off 19) after being asked to bat first. They posted a mammoth total of 190.
In response, the hosts batted well in patches. However, Ravi Bishnoi, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Arshdeep Singh picked up two wickets apiece to derail West Indies' batting to secure an easy win.
India will hope to carry the momentum going into the next game on Monday (August 1) at Warner Park in St Kitts.