Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the entire batting unit has to click as a unit to play amazing cricket from now onwards and achieve the goal of lifting the World Cup on home soil.
India’s batting in the Asia Cup has been a mixed bag. They were reduced to 47/4 before Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya stepped up in a pressure situation to stitch an important 138-run partnership and take India to 266 in an abandoned game against Pakistan.
Against Nepal, their chase was reset to 145 in 23 overs due to rain, which they achieved with ease as Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were unseparated while smashing their respective half-centuries. India will commence their Super Four run against Pakistan at Colombo on Sunday.
“Batting needs to come good, as batting has been going through a lot of ups and downs in the last few years. A lot will depend not just on Rohit and Virat, it also depends on the middle-order.”
“Like, Shreyas is just back after a long injury, Ishan Kishan looks good and K.L. Rahul is also back after an injury. Hardik Pandya will also be crucial with the bat and all of them have to come together to play amazing cricket and lift the Cup, something which will be very challenging to be honest,” said Harbhajan in a virtual press conference organised by Star Sports.
With Pakistan emerging as a force to reckon with thanks to their fiery fast-bowling line-up and in-form batters in captain Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed, Harbhajan thinks they stack up equally against India ahead of another round of the rivalry between the two teams.
“Even three years back, we would give India an 80 percent chance to win against Pakistan. But now, we put them as equals because Pakistan have played together as a unit for the past two years.”
“They played the final last year and lost in the semifinal the year before, that too because of a miracle of an innings played by Wade. So teams are made only when you play together and India will have a slight disadvantage on that front,” he added.
Former Pakistan tearaway pacer Shoaib Akhtar believes Babar will have to show some smartness as a captain after nearly letting the game against India at Pallekele drift away due to giving more overs to spinners.
"He is a far more better captain than he was two years ago. Babar's mindset has to be aggressive he should keep thinking about taking wickets and bowl out the opposition, and not let the bowlers bowl the entire 50 overs."
"I don't think Babar should have given that many overs to spinners. He could have kept the pace battery intact from one end and a spinner from the other. That is where I disagree with Babar, he used spin too much and gave up on the attack."
Against India at Pallekele, pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi (4-35), Naseem Shah (3-36) and Haris Rauf (3-58) were amongst the wicket-takers in that game. Akhtar expressed delight over the pace trio dominating the Indian batters but wished to see a spin-bowling all-rounder to balance the playing eleven.
"These youngsters are very, very talented. It gives me so much happiness to think that Pakistan is being able to produce such fast bowlers over and over again. I would say Shaheen Shah Afridi's bowling is at the top of his career right now, and Haris Rauf has the same mindset, that he just has to keep picking wickets."
"I sent a message for Naseem Shah, and to other players as well, to bowl more wicket-taking deliveries rather than being a stock bowler. So, I am sure that the message has been conveyed (to them). I think this trio (of Shaheen, Haris and Naseem), is one of the best in the world."
"They have proved time and time again that they can get people out, as simple as that. But I think we are a spinner short. Shadab (Khan) is very good, leg spin is a difficult art. I think one spin-bowling all-rounder is missing from the team," he concluded.
Asia Cup: If Chahal was playing in any other team, he would always be in the playing eleven, says Harbhajan
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh expressed surprise over the absence of two players, Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh, from India’s ODI World Cup squad, saying the senior leg-spinner would have been in the playing eleven of any other team if it was upto him to decide.
Chahal had been a mainstay with the Indian team in white-ball matches, but of late had made fewer appearances in ODIs. In ODIs since 2022, Chahal took 24 wickets in 16 matches at an average of 27.9 and economy rate of 5.5, but with Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel in good form, the leg-spinner missed out on a spot in the World Cup on home soil.
On the other hand, Arshdeep has only played three ODIs so far but is yet to take a wicket. Interestingly, both Chahal and Arshdeep were not a part of the Asia Cup squad, from which the eventual ODI World Cup team was selected.
"Two players are missing from the World Cup squad -- Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh. The left-arm seamer could have been very useful and can swing in with the new ball because he can give early wickets. You have seen that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mitchell Starc can create a very different kind of impact. When Australia won the World Cup in 2015, Starc had a huge impact in making them win via dismissing Brendon McCullum upfront."
"Yuzvendra Chahal is a proven match-winner, and if he were playing for any other team in the world, he would have been in the playing eleven. He has proved himself time and time again and it is unfortunate that he missed out on the Indian side. These two could have been handy, like they know the conditions very well at home," said Harbhajan in a virtual press conference organised by Star Sports.
Harbhajan was also surprised over India not having any right-arm spinner, leading to no variety in the spin bowling department, though Kuldeep is a wrist-spinner.
"We have picked up 2 left-arm spinners, who are never going to play together in a game. On a day, if they have a lot of left-handers in the opposition, they might not play all together and Jadeja may not even bowl his overs, so you need a bowler who can take the ball away from the batters."
"I think Yuzvendra Chahal and Arshdeep Singh should have been in the team, but in place of whom is a different debate altogether. If you pick a leg-spinner, then if you don’t pick an off-spinner, it’s fine. But not picking either leg-spinner or off-spinner and going with three left-arm spinners is a bit surprising for me."
Former Pakistan fast-bowler Shoaib Akhtar was also left gobsmacked over Chahal’s exclusion and opined that India aren’t a settled unit yet ahead of the World Cup.
"Not picking Chahal is beyond me. Plus, Arshdeep has played a lot of India-Pakistan pressure games and you needed a left-arm fast-bowler."
"The odd thing for India is that when they score 150-200, they then increase one batter and stretch it to number eight. If the top five do not bat well, how will they expect the number eight batter to come good, and what are they expecting?"
"With India, I also have this feeling that why India couldn’t pick a settled eleven in last two years -– because there were so many injuries and three-four players are back after injuries, which also needed replacements. It’s a very strange thing for me as the squad is not yet settled," added Akhtar in the press conference.
