India's bowling coach breaks his silence on Shami being dropped from Asia Cup!

 

Mohammed Shami played only one match in the Asia Cup where he replaced Jasprit Bumrah when he could not play the match due to personal reasons.

Team India became the first team to qualify for the final of the 2023 Asia Cup when it defeated Pakistan and Sri Lanka on consecutive days in Colombo earlier this week. The team registered a massive 228-run win over arch-rivals Pakistan and defeated hosts Sri Lanka by 41 runs in a low-scoring thriller. The bowling effort from India in both matches was impressive, as the team restricted the opponent to 128 (vs. Pakistan) and 172 (vs. Sri Lanka) respectively.

Unlike the past few months, there has been little change in the team combination as well, as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj remain the first-choice fast bowlers for the Asia Cup. Bumrah could not play the only match against Nepal due to personal reasons as he was replaced by Mohammed Shami in the group match. Shami's absence from the playing eleven irked many, as he has been one of the team's first-choice fast bowlers across all formats for many years.

However, ahead of India's final Super Four stage clash against Bangladesh, India bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said that the decision to drop Mohammed Shami from the playing XI was made in the best interests of the team. In his last match against Nepal, Shami took one wicket for 29 runs.

"It's not very easy to drop someone like Shami. The experience that he has and the performance that he has done for the country is phenomenal. It's never easy to have that kind of a conversation (dropping a player)," he said.

Mhambrey said that although it was a difficult choice, the player concerned had been clearly informed of the team's decision. "But we are clear in the way we have gone about the conversation with the players and they have shown confidence in us.

"Players know any decision that we take and they know that it is for the benefit of the team," said Mhambrey.

India is waiting for the second finalist

Team India is waiting for its opponent in the final of the Asia Cup, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are ready to face each other in the title clash. The match between the two teams – scheduled for Thursday – thus becomes a virtual knock-out; However, the weather conditions in Colombo have not been quite favorable and the toss for the game has been delayed, causing rain to hamper the continental tournament.

Had there not been a reserve day, the Super 4 match between India and Pakistan would have also been canceled as India could play only 24.2 overs, but ultimately the game had to be abandoned due to rain on Sunday.