Former Indian batter Dilip Vengsarkar has named three players who he would’ve selected for the T20 World Cup. Vengsarkar also feels Shubman Gill, Umran Malik, and Mohammed Shami deserve a place in the Indian squad following their stunning IPL 2022 campaign. While Shami sneaked into the reserve list of India’s T20 World Cup squad, Gill and Malik missed out as well.
Gill’s 483 runs in 16 games were crucial in the Gujarat Titans’ (GT) IPL title win in their debut campaign, while SunRisers Hyderabad pacer Malik’s pace throughout the competition was stunning as well. While speaking to The Indian Express, Vengsarkar shared that the trio deserve a long run in the shortest format.
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He said: “I would have picked Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik and Shubman Gill for the T20 World Cup. Would have given them a long run in T20Is because they all had a brilliant IPL season. I think the express pace of Shami is missing. If you see Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, they are not express. The only bowler who has got that extra pace is Jasprit Bumrah.”
Gujarat Titans’ Shami had a stunning IPL 2022 campaign, claiming 20 scalps in 16 games at an average of 24.40. However, he hasn’t played a T20I since November 2021, as the selectors prefer the likes of Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as their T20 bowlers as well. However, Dilip Vengsarkar backed Suryakumar Yadav to play the key role of a finisher as well.
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“I can’t really comment on who bats at what number. It is up to the think tank, the coach, the captain and the vice-captain. But I feel Suryakumar Yadav, who is batting at 4, can bat at 5 as well. He can be a great finisher. T20 is not like ODIs and Test cricket, where you need certain batters at certain positions. In this format, anybody can bat anywhere,” Dilip Vengsarkar concluded.
