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Cricket Players'I wanted to see him playing in T20 World Cup': Imran Tahir names bowler who could've played 'big role' for Team India
The Indian bowlers have taken only two wickets across two games – both coming against Kane Williamson's side.
Veteran South African spinner Imran Tahir expressed his surprise at the omission of Yuzvendra Chahal from the Team India squad in the T20 World Cup, saying that he is a “wonderful bowler” and that it is unfortunate that he wasn't picked.
Chahal was one of the regular members of India's limited-overs squads prior to the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. However, he was omitted from the side owing to inconsistent performances for the side over the past year.
"He is a wonderful bowler. I personally wanted to see him playing in the T20 World Cup. But unfortunately he didn't get picked," Tahir said in a virtual media interaction arranged by Abu Dhabi T10 League.
"All the leg-spinners have got different variations. It's not just about googly and legbreak. Top-spinner, flipper, slider (are there). Leg spinners are playing a big role. Batsmen now can't play like they used to play 10 years ago. Credit goes to all the spinners and the field planning."
India's campaign in the T20 World Cup is left in tatters after the side lost its opening two games against Pakistan and New Zealand respectively. The Indian bowlers have taken only two wickets across both games – both coming against Kane Williamson's side. Moreover, none of the spinners has been able to take a wicket so far for India.
Kiwi leg-spinner Ish Sodhi delivered a man-of-the-match show of 2/17 against India, as he took key wickets of Rohit Sharma and skipper Virat Kohli to restrict India to a below-par 110 for seven.
Indian think tank, on the other hand, relied on relatively inexperienced Varun Chakravarthy who has returned wicket-less in two matches, while senior pro Ravichandran Ashwin continues to remain in the waiting.
"As a leg-spinner playing in the past for South Africa and in the league cricket, I believe a leg-spinner can quickly change the game by taking 2-3 quick wickets.
"I've witnessed that in one of the games when the team were 96 chasing 160. Our spinners, including myself, took a few wickets and we won the game," Tahir said.
He further gave examples of the three Rashid Khan (seven wickets from three matches), Adil Rashid (five wickets from three matches) and Tabraiz Shamsi (four wickets from three matches) who have caught the eyes in the sluggish UAE pitches that were used recently during the IPL.
"Leg-spinners are very important and it's lovely to see that Shamsi, Adil Rashid, Rashid Khan are doing magic in the T20 World Cup. They are making proud for their respective countries.
"These are the three names that come to my mind in white-ball cricket," he said before adding Chahal to the list.
(With inputs from agency)
