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Ravichandran Ashwin and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are the biggest talking points after the Indian squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in the UAE was announced on Wednesday. Off-spinner Ashwin returns to India’s T20 side after a four-year absence, while former India captain Dhoni dons the mantle of a mentor.
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NewsTranscript
00:00To me, the squad looks solid on paper. It's we got to see how they're going to perform on the field.
00:15Hello, good evening, everyone. Welcome to Straight Bad with Gulf News and Mr. Cricket UAE. That is
00:19Anish Sajan. Today, we will discuss the Indian team selection for the T20 World Cup that's starting in
00:24the UAE in October, that is October 17. I am Shyam Krishna and with me is Gautam Batajaria, Senior
00:30Associate Editor and a cricket enthusiast, Sahil Sajan. Before we get going, let's have a word
00:36from Mr. Cricket, Anish Sajan. Thank you, Shyam. Good to have you guys once again. After a long
00:43time, we are connecting. Hello, Gautam. Hello, Sahil. The World Cup squad, as you said, has been announced.
00:51A couple of surprises for me. First and foremost, obviously, I would have preferred rather the
00:59exclusion of Deepak Chahar, where they have kept him in the reserve. I would have preferred him in
01:05the playing 11, because India had gone only with three seamers. Okay, they are thinking
01:08Hardik Pandya is going to bowl. But I sincerely would have preferred him in the main 15.
01:15And second, I believe India has gone with an extra spinner. They have picked up five spinners
01:22and just three seamers. So this is my worries. Overall, to me, the squad looks solid on paper.
01:28It's we got to see how they're going to perform on the field.
01:33Gautam, what are your thoughts? Yes, I would partly agree with Anish on that. I mean,
01:40you've got five spinners, obviously, with the UAE wickets in mind. But I think the advantage
01:46that they would have is, you know, unlike if the tournament had been held in, you know,
01:52some other country where travel would have been an issue. Then, you know, it would have been a
01:57problem because these guys like Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Shershah, all these three standbys
02:05will actually, I mean, they are already in the UAE prepping for the IPL. So they will be there
02:11just in case, you know, there is a kind of injury issue or a COVID issue. That way, it looks okay.
02:23Do you agree with Anish and Gautam on that fact that we will be missing an extra seamer?
02:29I mean, yeah, first of all, yeah, yesterday when the squad had come out, I was like,
02:34oh, only three seamers and five proper spinners. So I was also stunned about it. And personally,
02:40like, I'm also a big fan of Deepak Chahar and I thought that he would be in the 15-man squad.
02:47But, you know, now that's the thing. That's the beauty. Now look at India's, the squad depth of
02:52India is so good that unfortunately, he could not make it. So in the end, it's okay, I guess,
02:57you know. Yes, a big exclusion was Chahar, one of the experienced players now playing and Varun
03:03coming in place of Chahar, which we all are big fans of Varun, all of us. And he's a mystery
03:07spinner. So it will be, it's a good squad from India, I have to say. No complaints about it at
03:12all. But having said that, it's still bowler heavy, isn't it? We have something like four
03:18spinners apart from Jadeja, including Jadeja, that makes six. Does it make sense to have
03:25six spinners especially? In fact, what Chetan Sharma went on to add was, they expect the
03:31wickets in UAE to spin. Do you agree with that? Absolutely not. I mean, it will spin, the wickets
03:40might get tired. But what are you talking about? Are you going to play four spinners in a match?
03:44You're not playing on a dry wicket, where it is a dust bowl. We are talking about pitches in UAE,
03:50which have been always good and fast bowlers. In fact, I know the wickets in Dubai, as well as
03:56Abu Dhabi. They favour the pacers more than the spinners. I mean, spinners have not done anything
04:00extraordinary. If Chetan Chauhan, the selector, or Hussover has gone in for the selection by
04:06backing spin heavy, I mean, I have my doubts about it. But we will have to wait and watch, as I said.
04:12On paper, the squad looks solid. But I don't see, you would probably have Jadeja and a couple of
04:19spinners playing more. But you can't expect four spinners going. You need to have at least
04:23two seamers going. But my problem is, if it is a good track for fast bowlers,
04:30then you have only three seamers, what you have in the 15th. You can't get your 16th player,
04:35unless one of the 15th is injured. Those three guys in the reserve, Radha Shardul,
04:40as well as Deepak Char, cannot be played till one of the guys is injured. That's the law of ICC.
04:50I think you have a fair point, because even if you look at the IPL 2020, which we saw in the UAE,
04:54the Pacers did well, actually. The Delhi Pacers really knocked you out. The Mumbai Pacers,
04:58they all did extremely well. And I think you have a very fair point there. Gautam,
05:03what do you, do you agree with the fact that the UAE pitchers might help the Pacers more than the
05:09spinners? Yeah, I mean, there have been a number of occasions where, you know, Pacers have done
05:16the damage. I mean, it was in, you know, IPL 2020, where Shiraj bowled a couple of deadly
05:23spells which paved his way to the squad for Australia. Same with Chahar. So yes, I mean,
05:30they are definitely one pacer shot, no doubts about it. And as Anish said that, you know, only
05:36for an injury clause, can you look at Chahar or even Shardul Thakur for that matter.
05:42So yes, I mean, I think at this point, they're banking on Hardik to bowl four overs. I think
05:49that could be the only thinking which could have prompted this decision. And, you know,
05:56if they plan to keep Ashwin bowling in the powerplay, then you see Akshar Patel is one
06:06area where he could have thought of admitting that extra seam.
06:11Okay, I think we are pretty much fairly on agreement on that. Let's come back to the
06:17batsmen here. And Sahil, what do you think? They have six batsmen here. Are you happy with the
06:24batting lineup? Oh, absolutely. I'm very happy with the batting lineup. You know, these are all
06:29prestigious players who are playing for the Indian team. So I can have no complaints about the
06:34batting lineup. Because, you know, you've got the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul.
06:39I hope Surya Kumar Yadav plays. And really, he is the main man for India, I feel.
06:44He is your number three.
06:47He is the number three. And he is the main man for India, I got to say. Yes,
06:50Virat Kohli is there, Rohit Sharma is there. But Surya Kumar Yadav is the key for India,
06:54this tournament.
06:58Anish, what do you think of the batting lineup? Specifically, I would like your comments on the
07:03opening partnership. Do you think Kohli will open or Rahul will open?
07:07I'm glad you asked me this question, Shyam. About the opening partner, I definitely do not want to
07:13see Virat Kohli opening the inning. See, now, if you talk about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma opening
07:18the inning, both have a same style of playing. The good thing, I would not say good thing. One
07:24thing good, I say, that I'm glad that they did not include Shikhar Dhawan also in the squad.
07:29Because the pattern of play of both these three players is similar. Because they take their time.
07:34And today, T20 has evolved so much that you need to have slam-band players who can capitalize in
07:40the power player. So, I would prefer KL Rahul to open with Rohit Sharma, followed by, like you guys
07:47said, Surya Kumar Yadav and Virat Kohli. And another advantage of keeping Virat Kohli at the
07:52back of the innings, because, say what, Virat Kohli, as long as he is on the wicket, I would
07:58rather say he is in the dugout. The opposition always has a fear that, no, you have one guy who
08:03can finish off games. So, that's the reason I would like for two reasons. I want KL Rahul and
08:10Rohit Sharma to open to make sure that we capitalize on the power play. And Virat
08:15Kohli's presence later on will give a little bit of calmness in the dugout.
08:23Gautam, do you subscribe to the theory that it's good to hold Kohli back? Or
08:28do you want to put him as opener? Yes, yes. No, no. Kohli, see, I mean, it was during
08:36the international series against England that he suddenly said that I would like to open.
08:42But this is the World Cup. And I think when you've got, I mean, you can always have Rohit and
08:48Rohit and KL is obviously, it's almost a no-brainer. But at the same time,
08:54you can also try Ishan Kishan in that role if you want a left-right combination there.
08:58And this guy, I mean, he's 23. But we have seen that, I mean, he's almost a 360-degree player,
09:05the kind of cricket or shot making that T20 needs today. Otherwise, Ishan can come in at number six,
09:13possibly after one. But number six, again, goes to Hathke Pandya. So, you've got a problem of
09:1920 there. I don't see a problem. But as far as Kohli, yes, he should be held back till four.
09:28Absolutely agree there. We have more than enough options for the
09:32openers. So, there is no reason for Kohli to open, really. Because normally, when Kohli opens,
09:39when the situation is desperate or you need a different strategy, I don't think we have pretty
09:44much covered all the bases when it comes to opening. So, I don't, I myself don't see a reason
09:51why Kohli should open. I wanted to add one thing. Yes. I wanted to add one thing where I think
09:57I had thought about this way before, like, India, I feel like, you know, Ishan Kishan is there,
10:02you know, Aksar Patel is there. But I think, you know, this one player that I really like,
10:07you know, in this modern game is Prithvi Shaw, you know. The modern game has changed so much.
10:12You know, you've seen how England have that mindset, you know, when Basto and Roy come out,
10:16they don't care. The first four hours, they just go bang, bang. So, and you've seen Prithvi
10:21Shaw in the IPL. So, that's what I think. Did India miss a trick? I don't know. But
10:25he's the guy who's now adapted to this modern game really well.
10:29Okay. Since you have said about Prithvi Shaw, I know Anil sir talked about Dhawan,
10:35but again, I'll put the same question to you, Sahil, simply because Dhawan, if you look at
10:40last IPL or not last IPL, this particular IPL, which was suspended, Dhawan had a completely
10:50different game or a different approach. It's not the Dhawan which we saw of earlier. So,
10:54do you think Dhawan was a bad mislike along with Shaw?
10:58Absolutely not. I mean, Dhawan, it's a good thing that, you know, he's not in the squad.
11:02Like, good thing is, there are better players now in this T20 format than Dhawan. And Prithvi
11:07Shaw, I thought, he's now the guy, you know, he may get out for a duck. Don't get me wrong.
11:11Maybe first ball duck. But there are games where he'll score 30 runs in 12 balls. This is the start
11:16you need now in T20 cricket. You cannot score 30 of 22 balls. The game has changed now, unfortunately.
11:23So, you would pitch for Shaw ahead of, say, Dhawan and other openers.
11:29Yeah. Are you saying that Shaw would be a best fit to open with Rohit Sharma, right?
11:37This is what assumption I would like.
11:39Okay. Now, let's leave it there. And let's move on to the spinners.
11:43Anish, one of the biggest talking points yesterday was Ashwin's return.
11:47For four years, India didn't need Ashwin. Why now?
11:52Okay. Before I come to your question about Ashwin, I believe Satish has also joined. I'm
11:57not sure whether you have seen him join. I would like Satish to come in and talk about
12:04his opinion about the batting first.
12:07Yeah. Thank you. Sorry for being a little late. I would say that we missed a bit of a trick in
12:15the batting. I would also like to go back about the team composition. We have Varun Chakravarty
12:21and we have Rahul Chahar, both world leg spinners. Again, we wouldn't need so much. It's a luxury
12:28there having two leg spinners and who are two are rookies. So that we could have maybe taken
12:34Shaw there. Satish, we'll come back to that later. Let's stick with the batting part of it.
12:38Yeah, batting, I think that's where I'm coming, Shyam. We missed Shaw.
12:43Yeah, because Varun Chakravarty, we need...
12:45We missed Shaw and Shreyas... Sorry, go ahead.
12:53You're breaking.
12:55You're breaking, Shyam.
12:57Yeah, go ahead.
12:58Satish, you are breaking. Go ahead.
12:59Yeah, okay. The thing is, I think the team composition, we could have added two batsmen
13:06as such. Because the batting is very thin. If you look at, after the top three, Rohit Sharma, Rahul
13:12and Virat Kohli. Yeah, Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan are very good batsmen. But the experience
13:18is thin. They don't have enough international experience. They have played about four matches,
13:22five matches. So, once you have a collapse in the top three, then I think we'll lose a bit of
13:29direction after that. So, I think we missed a trick in the batting. We could have augmented
13:34the batting a little bit more than the number of bowlers we have had. So, I think I'm not quite
13:42satisfied with the batting as such. That's what my... Picking the teams, basically.
13:48Okay. Now, let's come back to Ashwin. Anish, what do you think of the
13:54four-year... I mean, after a four-year's head, Ashwin's return to the Indian team?
13:59You know what? Not only as a cricket fan, but as a big fan of Ravi Chandra and Ashwin, I'm glad
14:06that finally, better sense has prevailed. We all know he's come at the expense of
14:12Washington Sundar because he's been injured and India doesn't have an off-spinner.
14:16All the opposition, whether it is Pinton, De Kock or many teams have left-handers. So,
14:22Ashwin will be a good selection, which India has done. And it will give India that firepower. And
14:30Ashwin has always done well in the short-term format. It is just that when the culture,
14:35Puldeep Yadav and Chahal had developed, that is where Ashwin lost his place after the 2017
14:41Champions Trophy. Otherwise, you see Ashwin's performances in the IPL. It has been always
14:47tremendous, whether he played for Punjab three years ago when he was a captain or when he played
14:51for Delhi recently. Till he got injured and he had to, in fact, leave last year because of the COVID
14:57in his family. Ashwin, in fact, is India's ace. We were all debating that why he's not selected
15:03in the Test match. But finally, I think better sense has prevailed. And I believe he will be
15:09one of the strong members in the Indian playing team. This is my call.
15:13Pradhan, do you think Ashwin will play all the matches?
15:18Are you asking me this question?
15:21Sorry, was that for me?
15:26Yes, actually, I have my doubts about whether he's going to play in all the matches. But
15:30the definite plus of playing Ashwin is, I mean, he's your guy. And the job which, I mean,
15:36we can't keep comparing him to Washington Sundar, but horses for horses, that bowling in the power
15:42play, that he has done so well. And another thing that has worked somehow, Shyam, I mean, last year,
15:49we watched the IPL 2020 quite closely, and all of us. Performances in IPL 2020 has gone in a long
15:58way in influencing in some of the choices, like Varun Chaturvedi being one. I mean, if I'm not
16:04wrong, he picked up around 24-25 wickets. I mean, when he came in, people were still, you know,
16:10people almost used to have a slight condescending attitude about him. Ashwin did extraordinarily
16:16well last time. I mean, he was one of the key figures in taking them up to the final. So this
16:23has worked a bit in their favor. But you can only play that many spinners. So I'm not very sure about
16:33it depends on what kind of combination they're looking at. I would rather see Varun Chaturvedi
16:38playing all the matches rather than Ashwin, if you ask me, among the spinners.
16:44Okay. Now, Sahil, this is what I think of Ashwin. I think Ashwin should play all the
16:49matches because he's an impact player. I would even go against Gautam's assessment
16:54of Varun Chaturvedi and I would pick Ashwin ahead of Varun Chaturvedi. Do you agree with me?
17:00I cannot really comment on it because I'm not sure about it.
17:04No, no, if you can.
17:06Everybody has an opinion. You have your own opinion, Sahil.
17:10Now, there's a massive confusion. Now, India have taken five spinners. Now, you see,
17:14Ashwin can play. Rahul Chahar is coming back from a good form in that Sri Lanka series.
17:20Depends now, we can only judge after the IPL who balls well in Dubai pitches.
17:24Correct.
17:24So, you know, it doesn't matter if Ashwin's experience is there or not,
17:27it doesn't matter if Ashwin's experience is there or not. Chahar will be in contention. Chakravarti
17:32will play every match. I know that for KKR. Let's see what happens, you know. Aksar Patel
17:36might also play because he's been outstanding in the IPL. So, it's fishy. Let's see what happens.
17:43Okay. Anyway, Sahil didn't take my bait. Satish, are you up for my challenge? I would prefer
17:49Ashwin ahead of Varun Chakravarti. You seem to be backing Varun Chakravarti.
17:54Every T20 match I have seen, Ashwin has changed the game with two quicker.
18:02And he is kind of a match winner as far as I'm concerned. Do you agree with me?
18:06Absolutely, Shyam. Coming from Chennai, the good part is Ashwin and I, we have played
18:13in almost three or four teams in the same teams, club teams also. So, I would always back Ashwin.
18:18But as Sahil said, a lot of decision will be made after the IPL. So, the form will come into
18:26the play as well. But of course, Ashwin is a proven customer. I still remember when he got
18:31Chris Gayle's wicket in the final against Bangalore and he cut the throat of Bangalore. And I still
18:37remember how competitive he is and how he goes for the kill at the start of the game and he can
18:44give you a couple of wickets early with the new ball if he can bowl. So, he is a match winner for
18:49sure. But I still would say that maybe the IPL will help in judging who plays the first couple
18:55of matches. I'm sure Ashwin is a match winner and he will play his part. But it will be decided
19:01post-IPL, I think, who will be the core 11 and then who will be in and out. That will be decided
19:07after that. With Dodom backing Varun Chakravorty, I'm not surprised because being a KKR fan.
19:16But I also see that Anish is also a huge, huge backer of Varun Chakravorty. Okay, tell us your thoughts.
19:24You know what? I had made this prediction about Varun Chakravorty. Not prediction. It was my
19:28wish that Varun Chakravorty is picked for the T20 World Cup. And I'm glad it has come out true.
19:35So, if you give me a choice to pick between Ashwin, if there is a choice between to pick
19:39between Ashwin and Varun Chakravorty, I would put my both hands and say Varun Chakravorty.
19:48Okay, I remember in your opening comments, you said you would have preferred Chahar to Chahar.
19:53Gautam, you agree with that assessment? Chahar to Chahar? No, I wouldn't really agree to that
20:01because last two IPLs I've seen, Chahar, you know, carrying the responsibility of Mumbai
20:08spin bowling virtually on his shoulders. I mean, this year in the Indian leg of the IPL,
20:14if you remember, Mumbai batting, it was failing to click. They were getting one, barely getting
20:21to 140-150. And Chahar was virtually doing what Rashid Khan used to do for Sunrisers Hyderabad. So,
20:31I think that just kind of clinched the deal for him, even at the expense of Chahar.
20:40Yeah, so that's a fair call. I mean, he's your best leg spinner at the moment.
20:46Sahil, your call. Chahar or Chahal?
20:52So, like, I always liked Chahal. But, you know, in the last one or two IPLs, you know, he gets
20:58hit a lot. Now, every leg spinner gets smacked out of the park a lot. But now, I think Rahul Chahar,
21:03he's proven his point, you know, for Mumbai Indians and for India cricket team also.
21:09And I think it's the right choice to bring him on.
21:12Satish, we have seen Chahar do well in IPL 2020 in the UAE. And also, he's done quite a decent
21:20performance in India during the 2021 IPL also. So, I would agree with this assessment that Chahar
21:26is a better fit than Chahal. Do you agree? Yeah, Shyam. He's a guy who was in form. Of course,
21:32that was a few months ago, when the IPL was played. Yeah, as Gautam rightly pointed out,
21:39he won a few matches for Mumbai this season. So, yes, between Chahal and Chahar, I would go with
21:47Chahar, who was in form. Because I think now Chahal has been more like… Because what
21:52happened to the familiarity has made him less potent than what he was with the past. So,
22:01I think Chahar can be a new trump card for us, for sure. But again, like, would we be playing
22:07two leg-spinners in a match? This is my biggest question. That is where I started with a comment
22:13earlier in the sense, why do we need two leg-spinners? We won't be playing two leg-spinners
22:17for sure. Because Varun Chakraborty is a mystery spinner who bowls predominantly a leg-spinner. And
22:21then you have Chahar. Will you be playing two spinners other than the other spinners like Jadeja
22:27or you are looking at Ashwin or anybody for that matter? So, that's my question.
22:34Okay. Before we wind up, let's… We need to address one of the other big talking points
22:41in this collection. That is the arrival of MS Dhoni as an influencer or a mentor.
22:53How will the panel… Yes, this addition of MS Dhoni has taken everybody by surprise. In fact,
23:01that has been the more talking point than the Ashwin thing. But having added Dhoni in this
23:09as a mentor, now we need to define the role what MS Dhoni is going to play. Because you see,
23:14we have three strong characters already in the team. In the name of Virat Kohli,
23:18we all know how strong an influence character is. Then the head coach Ravi Shastri,
23:24who has also been with the team for a long time. And mind you, you also have the vice
23:28captain, which is Rohit Sharma, who has won five Mumbai I-12 titles. So, then you are adding
23:32another MS Dhoni. So, we need to define roles. Okay, all of them love Indian cricket. But we
23:37need to define roles. What is going to be MS Dhoni's role? Is he going to be the calming effect
23:42which he was when he was playing? Or is he going to be there to assess the pitch and guide what
23:50players to be selected? Because too many cooks sometimes spoil the broth. We need to see whether
23:55that goes in our favor or against our favor. But as everybody is a Dhoni fan, I'm happy to be seen
24:00here. But I want the roles to be defined. In fact, all four of them to be sitting in front of each
24:05other and making discussion that this is all my role. And this is what I need to do.
24:14Can you at least speculate what will be Dhoni's role?
24:18Dhoni is coming in, from what I gather, he's coming in on a short term basis.
24:23For now, it is just this T20 World Cup. But he is somebody who is already there. I mean,
24:29he had been there till mid-August. It is good that he has agreed to take up this role
24:36at a temporary basis at this point. And one is the freshness. Other thing is possibly,
24:43if he can add that winning touch. I mean, we'll have to also see that in the ICC tournaments,
24:48we have just been falling short under this Kohli-Shastri combined. Be it the 2019 World Cup,
24:57be it 2016, the last World T20. So if there is that X factor or the thinking on the feet
25:08thing, which Dhoni is so good at, if he can provide that input to Virat Kohli,
25:13I don't think Ravi Shastri is going to mind about that. And the other thing is,
25:17Dhoni is actually acceptable to both Shastri as well as Kohli and as well as Rohit Sharma. I mean,
25:24he had been playing with them the other day. I mean, we know what Derek Vishwanath is. He used
25:30to be the shadow captain to Kohli as long as he was around. So for a short time, this is the thing
25:37which overseas teams sometimes go for. They tag along Ricky Ponting for a short time during the
25:44World Cup, and then possibly Ricky is no longer there. So we can look at this as that kind of
25:51an arrangement. It's something new. Sahil, I know you're a huge CSK fan, and Dhoni is the CSK
25:59captain. I know you will not say anything about him. But let me put this to you. Do we really
26:04need Dhoni in the team? First of all, I'm not a CSK fan. I'm just a Dhoni fan, just to clarify.
26:14But it's nothing wrong. You know, he has a lot of experience and he's not the type of guy,
26:21you know, who will interfere all the time. He's a calm guy. And he's here to mentor. It's all
26:26youngsters in the Indian team, all young guys, Shahar, Chakravarti. He's going to mentor these
26:30kids. So I think it's a good decision. And you know, you need a calm guy in the dressing room.
26:35So I think India, it's a good decision by the Indian board.
26:41Satish, Sahil has played it very diplomatically here, but you are certainly an unvarnished CSK
26:47fan. And you've been a cricketer also. So do you think Dhoni's presence is required in the
26:53dressing room? Yes, Shaham. Yeah, I also agree too. And this is the point that
27:01too many cooks could spoil the broth. But here what has happened is they have all been a cohesive
27:06unit until recently. So they know each other, what the strengths and weaknesses are, and where
27:12the input will come in, and what exactly will be the role also will be defined based on that.
27:17And I still feel when this is again, as Sahil rightly pointed out, this is a young team. If
27:24you look at there are many players who are only four matches old or five matches old or 10 matches
27:29old. So if you look at 2007, Dhoni showed the world that he could take a young rookie team and
27:36still win a trophy. So maybe he comes in with that kind of an input where he will assess each
27:43one's role or he will identify players and then give them a particular role. Because he's been
27:48there and done that. So I think that could be the role which maybe the Indian team wanted him to
27:55play. That he has done over the years. So many players have flourished and developed as big
28:02players under him. So it's a good move. In a way, I would say it's a good move. So I have nothing
28:09against it. He's a wonderful captain. He's a thinking captain. Because if you look at
28:14that one move in the 2011 World Cup, where he promoted himself up the order ahead of
28:20Yuvraj to play Murali. Because he has played Murali so many times in the net. So he knows
28:27exactly how Murali bolts. So that way, see, these are the small tricks that we need to identify.
28:35And I'm sure he will be able to provide these small tips at the right time, at the right
28:40occasion. I would think, I mean, my input is, okay, Dhoni may not be necessarily normally.
28:50But in this Indian team, I think he could have a calming influence in the dressing room simply
28:56because you'd have Virat Kohli and Shastri, very strong characters. So you need somebody with a
29:01more calming influence. I think that perhaps Dhoni will provide. And before we wind up,
29:07any final thoughts? I just want to say, like, I wanted to start with the same thing that India
29:14has gone more with spin than with pace. And if at all, if India lacks something in the fast bowlers,
29:21and I would have definitely, definitely would, if you know, they can still change the squad
29:26till the 5th of October, if I'm not wrong. I am not sure about what are the clause,
29:31probably Gautam would know what are the clause. But if India gets a chance,
29:35I would prefer that India either cut shorts one spinner and gets a fast bowler,
29:42which has to be for sure Rahul Chahar. I mean, he's the guy who's got wickets on regular basis,
29:50you give him the new ball, okay, he doesn't bowl well in the depth, you give him the new ball,
29:54and he swings the ball. And he's the man who will get you wickets. Because if you talk about Bhumi,
29:59Bhumrah, they are not the guys who take you early wickets. They are the guys who are
30:01specialists and Bhumrah especially bowls in the middle. So if you want early wickets,
30:05and you strike early, you need a bowler like Rahul Chahar. And he can also, mind you,
30:09do something with the bat. If I had to swap a fast bowler to a fast bowler, if they say no,
30:14they want to stick to only three fast bowlers, I will put Shami aside and take Chahar.
30:19Deepak Chahar.
30:25Yeah, okay. Gautam, your thoughts, please.
30:33Yeah, I mean, it's spot on. I think that Shami would have been better kept aside. And if you
30:42are going in with three passers, get Deepak Chahar in place of him by all means. I mean,
30:49Shami has done it. He is coming around from a long test series. He is not getting any younger.
30:56But Chahar has… I mean, see, he is the guy who has got the best international figures in T20
31:01cricket for you, even though it was against Bangladesh. And he can bat a bit. So why keep
31:07him among the standbys when you can't have a like-for-like replacement unless somebody is
31:13injured? And the other thing is, they didn't name a jumbo squad, Siddiqui. I mean, if they had named
31:20a bigger squad, then by October 10, that's the cut-off, you could have still gone ahead with
31:27the change. So we'll have to see. I mean, the thinking is obviously keeping in mind the UAE
31:34conditions have played a lot in their minds. But we have seen so many pace bowlers doing well in
31:40the last season in the UAE that we'll have to wait and watch to see if we are missing
31:44an additional pace bowler.
31:48Sahil, your thought?
31:52Yeah. I mean, in the end, I also had said it in the start that I would like to see an extra
31:58pacer. And about Mahmood Shami's point, like he is saying he is now getting younger. Yes,
32:03you're right that he is also coming back from a very long test series. But I still believe he
32:08still got it in him for this particular tournament. And he will be a good dead bowler for India.
32:13But yes, again, the main point was that they're missing one extra pacer. It could have been
32:18Deepak Chahar. But nonetheless, this is still a high, high, high-profile Indian team. So can't
32:24complain about it.
32:25With my final thoughts, I feel that we are one batsman short. Either we could have included
32:33Shreyas Iyer or Prithvi Shah as a batsman, a specialist batsman, because the batting depth
32:44is a little thin. Though, of course, everybody is an experienced player like Jadeja, Pandya,
32:49you have many all-rounders. I still feel one batsman would have served the team well.
32:56Maybe, yes. We'll have to wait and see how things pan out. And thank you. Thank you very much. I
33:03think we can wrap up the conversation right now. And it's been a pretty good one.
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