'It shows signs of insecurity': Noted legendary cricketers shocked as Rohit, Dravid dropping Shami for PAK Asia Cup tie

Contrary to India's playing XI, Pakistan picked three out-and-out fast bowlers in Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf.

The eyes were on India's batting order when captain Rohit Sharma walked towards the middle for the toss. Heading into the blockbuster match against Pakistan in their Asia Cup 2023 opener, the only question that pertained to the Indian team was Ishan Kishan's batting order after primary-choice wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul was ruled out of the group-stage matches of the tournament. However, what shocked most noted legendary cricketers present at the Pallekele International Stadium for the big match was the absence of veteran India fast bowler in Mohammed Shami. (India vs Pakistan Live Score, Asia Cup)

Mohammed Shami has been snubbed from India's Asia Cup clash against Pakistan

After opting to bat first under the cloudy Kandy skies, captain Rohit revealed, "Iyer is back, Bumrah is back and we got three seamers. Got two spinners - Kuldeep and Jadeja." Minutes later, where the team list was announced, India's pace attack was revealed with Bumrah, who only marked his return to international cricket late last month in the T20I series against Ireland, would accompany Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj.

Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, speaking to Star Sports as the team list was flashed by the broadcasters, lashed out at the team management for not taking care of bowling depth in a playing XI and questioned the selection of Thakur over Shami. He in fact opined that Thakur's selection, based on his lower-order batting abilities, shoed lack of trust on batters like Ravindra Jadeja.

"I am against this thought. People talk about batting depth but what about bowling depth. Isn't Mohammed Shami more a threat to Pakistan batters than Shardul Thakur? I wouldn't worry about batting depth but leaving someone put like a Shami especially on a surface where you see the ball seam around, India should have gone with three quality seamers. It just shows signs of insecurity and not trust you batters in Jadeja at No.7," he said.

Australia batting great Matthew Hayden, who stood next to Manjrekar, agreed with the Indian and opined that there probably must information missing regarding Shami's non-selection.

"I 100% agree. Shami should have been there. The only thing that is missing is Shami. There has got to be a reason which we are missing about his non-selection," he added.

Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri, while announcing the team list before the start of the innings on Saturday, took expressed his surprise at Shami's exclusion/ He said: "One surprise there is no Shami....there must be something to it."

Contrary to India's playing XI, Pakistan picked three out-and-out fast bowlers in Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf. They in fact kept their XI unchanged after the combination got them off to a winning start against qualifier and debutant Nepal in the tournament opener in Multan on September 30.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.