Delhi: India had to face defeat against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Since then, questions are continuously being raised on Team India. Some people are raising questions on the Indian strategy, while some are criticizing the mentality of the players. At the same time, some cricket pundits are also raising questions on team selection.
Recently, former Indian coach Ravi Shastri had given a statement regarding Mohammed Shami, and now former Australian captain Ricky Ponting raised questions on Shami’s injury management and said that if Shami is included in the team in the second part of the Border-Gavaskar series, Had India been included, India could have had the upper hand.
Australia won the fifth and final Test match played in Sydney by six wickets and won the series 3-1 and won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time after ten years. After recovering from ankle injury, Shami performed brilliantly in Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 and Vijay Hazare ODI Trophy, which increased the hopes of his comeback in the Indian team.
However, the BCCI medical team ruled out the possibility of Shami’s return before the fourth Test in Melbourne, citing knee swelling. Ponting believes that Shami should have been taken on the tour of Australia. He said, “I really wonder why Shami was not included in the team in the middle of the series. Even if he had bowled less overs, he could have made a difference.”
Ponting further said, “When you asked me initially (in the last ICC review) what would be the result of the series, I had said that Australia will win 3-1, because Shami is not in the Indian team. If Shami, Bumrah and Siraj had been in their starting team, I think the result could have been different.”
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