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India great ‘surprised’ by two exclusions from World Cup squad, gives verdict on Pant, Karthik
When asked about the inclusion of Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant in India's T20 World Cup squad ahead of Sanju Samson, Borde, however, did not oppose it and in fact went on to say Pant should be an "automatic choice".
India great Chandu Borde was 'surprised' not to see Mohammed Shami and Sanju Samson in India's T20 World Cup squad. While Shami found a place in the list of standby cricketers along with Shreyas Iyer and Deepak Chahar, Samson was nowhere in the scheme of things as the Indian selectors went in with Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant as the designated wicketkeepers for the world event in Australia in October-November this year.
Borde said Shami's experience could have come in handy on Australian pitches which offer a lot of bounce and reward hit-the-deck bowlers. "Well, the squad was announced and most of the players were the same as before, but what surprised me was the exclusion of Shami. Considering that the World Cup is in Australia, Shami could have been lethal with his pace and swing. I feel he should have benefitted the team a lot had he been chosen," the former India all-rounder told India TV.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel were the four specialist seam-bowling options selected by India with Hardik Pandya being the seam-bowling all-rounder.
Despite there being a lot of talk around Sanju Samson, India's selectors stuck with Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik for the World Cup.
"Sanju Samson should have also been selected for the World Cup. He is a great batsman, and the team could have benefited a lot from him," Borde said.
When asked about the inclusion of Karthik and Pant, Borde, however, did not oppose it and in fact went on to say Pant should be an "automatic choice". "While Dinesh Karthik is a great finisher, Pant is an extremely unpredictable player and can turn the game around in no time. Pant should be an automatic choice."
One of the biggest positives for India in an otherwise disappointing Asia Cup campaign in which they failed to reach the finals was the return to form of former captain Virat Kohli. The modern-day great hit two fifties but reserved his best for the last by smashing a record-breaking hundred while opening the batting against Afghanistan.
"Although Virat did score a hundred vs Afghanistan as an opener, he is best suited at number three, where he can anchor the innings," Borde added.
