MSK Prasad Disappointed At Exclusion Of These Two Players From India's T20 World Cup 2021 Squad
Published - 27 Sep 2021, 07:32 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:56 AM
Former BCCI chief selector MSK Prasad, while opining on the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2021 tournament which will be played in October-November in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, said that he was disappointed that two specific players didn’t find a place in it.
The Indian 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup 2021 saw the return of Ravichandran Ashwin to the white-ball team after 4 years. Also picked were Rahul Chahar and Axar Patel, while the likes of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan were also included rewarding them for their brilliant performances off late.
However, MSK Prasad was not happy with the Chetan Sharma-led BCCI selection committee overlooking opener Shikhar Dhawan while picking KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan as opening options with Rohit Sharma. Dhawan had a brilliant IPL 2020 and is also having a great IPL 2021, where he is the Orange Cap holder for most runs.
Speaking to Sports Tak, Prasad said that the selectors had done a good job by picking a squad keeping in mind that the tracks in the upcoming event will be spin-friendly.
“You can definitely rate them 8-9 out of 10. They’ve tried to cover all bases and they have gone in predominantly with a frame of mind that it will be more of spin-friendly wickets. That’s the reason we have 4-5 spinners in the squad. Selectors will see from every angle… they will definitely not go into one direction,” Prasad told Sports Tak.
“Personally, I felt that maybe since this is a major event, someone like Shikhar Dhawan could have really been brought. Considering the fact that he has always done well in ICC tournaments. And he got back-to-back centuries in the IPL so he is in perfect form. I think he could have been more useful for the side,” he added.
They Could Have Fitted In Krunal Pandya In The Squad As Well: MSK Prasad
MSK Prasad further opined that he is also disappointed with the exclusion of one more player behind whom he and his selection committee had put in 3-4 years and given him the opportunity to flourish. That player is left-handed all-rounder Krunal Pandya.
The elder Pandya has played 5 ODIs and 19 T20Is for India picking 2 and 15 wickets respectively. Prasad also threw his weight behind all-rounder Krunal Pandya, saying he was groomed for the last 3-4 years and could have made the cut.
“Similarly, Krunal Pandya too. We had groomed him for the last 3-4 years in the T20 format. He’s been doing well for the Mumbai Indians so these are the two names. I felt that these are the two guys who could have fitted in,” Prasad added.
India will play Pakistan on October 24 in their first match of IPL 2021.
