Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Mohit Sharma has opened up on India’s major weakness ahead of the second T20I against Afghanistan, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 15, in Delhi.
Speaking on Cricbuzz, the former Indian pacer reckoned that the Indian team, led by Shreyas Iyer, lacked a proper fifth bowling option, as seen in the first T20I. India used Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhishek Sharma, and Shivam Dube as the fifth bowling option.
“India has a question to address. It is a big question. I am talking about the fifth bowler. Will the management look at it? Will they think that they need a fifth bowler in Ravi Bishnoi or Yash Thakur? They could even bring Washington Sundar in. Washi can give you two to three overs on this wicket in Delhi,” Mohit Sharma said on Cricbuzz.
On the other hand, the former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif, who is also part of the discussion, agreed with the former pacer, adding that the Indian team wouldn’t make any changes to their XI having won the first T20I by seven wickets.
“That problem was seen in the first game, where we missed a fifth or sixth bowler. I don’t think they would make a change though, as it is only one game in the series and they won as well. In the first ten overs, things were in control. In the second half, they could not pick up wickets at one point when Nabi and Omarzai had a partnership. But I feel they will back the same players, as they won,” Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
“Maybe they can use Reddy earlier. Give him the new ball. You can play the same team but you can see how to use the bowlers. If Abhishek gave just eight runs and bowled a good over, give one more to Reddy there and finish his quota. If they had done that, maybe there would be no need to give Dube the 20th over,” he added.
