Dilip Vengsarkar names four players who should have been in India's T20 World Cup squad

India are in a spot of bother going into the T20 World Cup after news that Jasprit Bumrah could join Ravindra Jadeja in being ruled out for the tournament.

India seem to have been provided two major injury blows even before the start of the T20 World Cup. While all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was ruled out before the squad was announced, it now looks like fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah could also miss out due to a back injury. It means that India will be without their premier fast bowler and a crucial all-rounder for the marquee tournament.

India could go into the T20 World Cup without their premier fast bowler

However, former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar feels that India may have left a few other players who deserved to be in the squad. Senior fast bowler Mohammed Shami, whose absence in the T20 World Cup squad surprised many former players, is among them along with batters Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill and young tearaway Umran Malik.

"There is no out-of-the-box thinking. I would have picked Umran Malik because of his speed. He is a guy who is bowling 150kmph; you’ve got to pick him now, you can’t pick him when he becomes a 130kmph bowler,” said Vengsarkar. “Shreyas Iyer is in good form and he missed out. Mohammed Shami and Shubman Gill should also be on the team. I am impressed with Gill.”

Umran turned heads in the latter stages of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) and throughout the 2022 tournament, rarely bowling below speeds of 145kph and regularly going past the 150kph mark. His performance in the 2022 season earned him a call-up to the Indian squad but the 22-year-old has failed to impress thus far in his short international career.

Vengsarkar, who has also headed the Indian selection committee in the past, said that Umran should have been selected in the 2022 Asia Cup as well. “In Dubai, where the wicket was flat and grassless, where there was no bounce, you needed fast bowlers. If you had medium pacers, you would be tonked around. You needed fast bowlers who could beat the batters in pace,” he said.