Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma said that Deepak Hooda could have been given a few overs during their Super 4 match against Pakistan on Sunday, September 4. He suggested that Indian captain Rohit Sharma should have brought Hooda into attack when Mohammad Nawaz came in to bat at No.4. Sharma stated that Hooda would have troubled the left-hander, as he has enough experience bowling in T20 cricket as well.
Sharma said: “Deepak Hooda was added to the side as he could be a sixth bowling option. He should have been given a couple of overs when Mohammad Nawaz was batting well.”This indicates that the captain doesn’t have enough faith in him as a bowler, or maybe he didn’t think that Hooda could have been used against a left-hander. He would have been a useful option as he has bowled quite a lot in T20 cricket.”
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He also questioned India’s decision to play two leg-spinners despite having Ravichandran Ashwin in their squad. He added:
“India were forced to go with this lineup against Pakistan as India didn’t have a replacement for a pacer. It is a big fault of the team management and the selectors that they didn’t add an extra fast bowler to the squad. We had Ravichandran Ashwin but still went ahead with two leg spinners.”
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Meanwhile, Rajkumar Sharma also shared that Deepak Chahar would have been a more useful option for Team India. He explained:
“Instead of adding Axar Patel to the squad, they could have replaced Ravindra Jadeja with Deepak Chahar. He is a specialist in the T20 format and is a wicket-taker. He swings the ball and is capable of taking early wickets. Pakistan wouldn’t have been able to chase the total if he was there in this game.”