Asia Cup 2022: You can’t leave them out to be barbecued – Saba Karim backs Avesh Khan selection ahead of Mohammed Shami

Many cricket experts including Aakash Chopra and Kris Srikkanth were surprised at the exclusion of Mohammed Shami from India’s Asia Cup 2022 squad. They believed Shami would have added more value to the squad in the absence of India’s pack leader Jasprit Bumrah, who has been ruled out with a back injury.

However, former Indian selector Saba Karim feels the selection committee has done a good job in sticking with Avesh Khan as he has done a decent job in the recent past. Khan bagged the Player of the Match award in the fourth T20I against West Indies after taking two wickets.

The likes of Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan have impressed with their performances in the recent past and they will be led by experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the Asia Cup.

In fact, Rohit Sharma had given the last over to Avesh Khan in the second T20I against West Indies when 10 runs were needed. Rohit had the option of bowling Bhuvneshwar Kumar but he later revealed that he wanted to throw the youngster in a crunch situation.

On the other hand, Mohammed Shami is currently not in the selector’s scheme of things. Shami had last played a T20I back in the 2021 T20 World Cup match against Namibia.

Saba Karim said while talking to Sports 18, “I feel once you have invested in youngsters like Avesh Khan, you possibly can’t leave them out to be barbecued. Such youngsters haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I can understand Mohammad Shami on current form is a strong bet, more so with Jasprit Bumrah out due to injury, but I just feel that the selectors want to have that kind of security and they want to persist with the youngsters in whom they have shown so much of faith.”

Former Indian wicket-keeper batsman feels the selectors have picked a balanced squad for the Asia Cup.

“It is a solid side. It’s good to see that they are going ahead with players who have that kind of buy-in to Rohit Sharma’s strategy and his tactics.”
India will begin their campaign against Pakistan on 28th August in Dubai.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Yuzvendra Chahal.