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Bowling has been a big worry for Team India in T20 cricket recently and Jasprit Bumrah's injury has only compounded the woes for skipper Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid.
While the team will leave for Australia in a few days’ time, former India cricketer Dilip Vengsarkar reckons Mohammed Shami, Shreyas Iyer, Umran Malik, and Shubman Gill should have been on the squad.
Vengsarkar has claimed that young pacer Umran Malik should have been included in the T20 World Cup squad because of his speed.
Malik had an impressive IPL 2022 for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and emerged as one of the best performers this year. In the season, the youngster picked up 22 wickets from 14 matches. He also made his international debut for India during the tour of Ireland and also played the last match against England in the three-match series earlier this year.
However, Vengsarkar feels that Malik should be a part of the squad. Speaking to Sportstar, the former selector said that he should have been picked since his pace would have troubled the batters down under.
‘There is no out-of-the-box thinking. I would have picked Umran Malik because of his speed. He is a guy who is bowling 150kmph; you've got to pick him now, you can't pick him when he becomes a 130kmph bowler. In Dubai, where the wicket was flat and grassless, where there was no bounce, you needed fast bowlers. If you had medium pacers, you would be tonked around. You needed fast bowlers who could beat the batters in pace,’ said Vengsarkar.
Vengsarkar also said that he would have loved to see Shubman Gill and Shami as a part of the 15-member squad and went on to suggest that he had been impressed by Gill.