Asia Cup 2023: Ravi Shastri Picks His Four Front Line Pacers For India In Asia Cup; Leaves Out Mohammed Siraj

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri picked his four frontline pacers for Team India in the playing 11. What caught the attention of many was he left out Mohammed Siraj, who of late has been the team’s best pacer in the ODI format. 

Ravi Shastri in a conversation on Star Sports, picked the Indian bowling combination and he didn’t shy away from picking both Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur in the XI. Not only this he also axed Sanju Samson, saying that he will keep keeper-batter in standby. 

“I think to be fair, I will go with both the all-rounders – Axar and Shardul, it gives me an opportunity. And keep Sanju Samson on standby in case something happens to the keeper there, where he can just fly out. So, now you start with the pacers because, for me, the pacers are important.” Ravi Shastri explained. 

Ravi Shastri while talking about the pace bowling department picked Hardik Pandya as a pace bowling all-rounder along with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

“If you need four over there, you already have one all-rounder (Pandya). So, if Bumrah is fit, he walks in. Shami walks in – that’s two. You’ve got Siraj as a backup, and if needed, Shardul can be there. Shardul has done well in the West Indies one-day game; he can be a backup. And then you have room for one more,” He added. 

Mohammed Siraj notably is the No.4 ranked ODI bowler and has been a threatening force for India in this format as well. In the 24 games, he has picked 43 wickets at an average of 20.74. 

Asia Cup 2023: Three games against Ireland become very important for Jasprit – Ravi Shastri 

Premier Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been returning from the injury after a while. He will be captaining India in the three-match T20I series against Ireland, starting on 18th August. 

Ravi Shastri said that the three games against Ireland will be crucial for Jasprit Bumrah as game practice is very different from net practice. He explained: 

“You will only know if he [Bumrah] is fully fit when you see him playing in matches.

That’s when you get a fair idea. No amount of bowling in the nets is going to tell you how fit a player is. There’s one thing called net fitness, and there’s one thing called match fitness. So these three games become very important for Jasprit,” he concluded.