Ahead of the Champions Trophy, one area where India feels a bit undercooked is the pace bowling department, with Jasprit Bumrah unavailable. A lot rides on Mohammed Shami, who returned to international cricket last month after over a year on the sidelines. The experienced seamer has to guide a young pace attack that includes Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana, who have played only a handful of one-dayers.
Shami played two games against England and took one wicket each in both outings. However, skipper Rohit Sharma felt that the team is not worried about the pacer’s meagre returns and said the focus was to get him back on the field.
“Shami has played only two (ODI) games and a couple of T20Is. All we wanted with Shami was to get him back wearing the Indian colours more than anything else,” said Rohit in the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
“Whether he gets wickets or not, that was completely immaterial for us at that point. We wanted him to return to playing for India, and he has done that. Whatever I have seen of him so far looks perfectly fine.” “When you talk about a bowler like Shami, who has done the job for us over the years, it is just about getting back to rhythm,” he added.
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Rohit, who seemed to be suffering from a bout of cough during the media interaction, also backed left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, another bowler who made a comeback during the ODIs against England after an injury (groin surgery) to come good. “With certain players, you don’t have to look at numbers so much in detail. It is just about getting back to playing; the numbers will come, which is what our faith is in as captain and coach. Whatever prep he has had coming here, he looks good and confident in what he wants to do. If these two guys are in form, the team looks very good,” said Rohit.
One of the talking points ahead of the tournament was India’s decision to have five spin options, but Rohit defended the call, explaining that three of them were genuine all-rounders.
“There are two spinners (Kuldeep Yadav and Varun), and the other three are all-rounders, so I am not looking at it as five spinners. Those three guys can bat and bowl,” Rohit remarked. “We work on our strengths, and those three guys (Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar) give a different dimension to our combination and add depth. That is why we wanted to get players with two skills rather than one.”
Meanwhile, the 38-year-old also praised his opening partner and deputy, Shubman Gill, who is back in red-hot form after a subdued tour of Australia.
“Gill is a very classy player, and there is never doubt about his ability in this squad. We tend to mix formats, and I don’t think that’s the right way to judge any player. Certain players have their strength in certain formats, and if one format doesn’t go well, it doesn’t mean the other format will be the same.”
“With Gill, we know the numbers are crazy of Gill. If you look at it, he has been superb for us in the last three to four years that he has batted, and obviously, there is a reason that he has been elevated as the vice-captain. Hopefully, he will have a great tournament, and it will eventually help us achieve what we are looking to do,” said Rohit.
