Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra reckons India won’t play Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah together in the playing XI in the World Cup. Currently, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are India’s frontline bowlers in the ODI format.
Bumrah recently made a fine return to the ODI version in the recently concluded Asia Cup and has been right on the money whereas Mohammed Siraj returned with career-best figures of 6-21 in the Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, Mohammed Shami also returned with his best career figures of 5-51 in the first ODI against Australia at the IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Friday. But Shardul Thakur was expensive in his 10-over spell, conceding 78 runs.
Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra rated Steven Smith’s dismissal delivery by Mohammed Shami as the ball of the match in the first ODI. The ball came back into the right-hander and crashed into the leg stump after taking Smith’s inside edge.
Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel, “Shami grabbed the limelight on a road-like flat pitch. The delivery that got Steve Smith out was the ball of the match. It was a really good delivery. The debate was over what India needed – runs from the batter at No. 8 or wickets from Shami. But I still feel India won’t play Shami, Siraj and Bumrah together.
“I feel they are still obsessed with the No. 8 position and that’s why they won’t go in with these three fast bowlers together. The third pacer is likely to be Shardul and the third spinner if needed could be Axar or Ashwin. But still, Shami was sensational,” he added.
Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid have spoken about the importance of batting depth and thus the team’s think tank is expected to back Shardul Thakur at number eigh ahead of Mohammed Shami.
India will aim to continue the winning momentum ahead of the World Cup. The Men in Blue will begin their World Cup campaign against Australia at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on October 8.
