Asia Cup 2022: India were touted as one of the big favourites for the Asia Cup title before the team left the Indian shores. Things have not gone according to plan with Rohit Sharma’s men knocked out of the competition. After a disappointing show, former selector Dilip Vengsarkar is not happy with the several experiments in the Playing XI. Follow Asia Cup live updates with InsideSport.IN
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In almost every match, there was some change or the other in the Playing XI. It does not augur well in a multi-nation tournament.
It would not be wrong to say that the management looked at the Asia Cup as preparations for the T20 World Cup. The ICC event is scheduled to start next month in Australia. It is quite evident from the team changes that the team has not finalised their squad.
Several teams including Australia and England have announced their World Cup squad. India are also expected to announce their squad before September 15. But, Vengsarkar is of the opinion, it is okay to experiment in bilateral series, not in Asia Cup.
“Obviously, the team management wants to give all the players a chance as they are trying to find their best XI for next month’s World Cup. But then this event is also very important. The Asia Cup is a very big tournament. Winning matches in a tournament like this is very important for the morale of the team. Also, I think it’s important to have the winning combination,” Vengsarkar told Khaleej Times.
“You can experiment maybe in a bilateral series, but the Asia Cups and the World Cup, these are major tournaments. In these tournaments, you need to win, that’s very important.”
But it is also very important to understand how injury to Ravindra Jadeja derailed India’s plan in the Asia Cup. He is central to the team’s balance and the composition as the southpaw is an all-rounder. He possesses the unique ability to win with both bat and all. His absence meant that the team had to scramble for different combinations.
However, his like-for-like replacement Axar Patel has not even got a game. Some of the team changes have been quite baffling. Playing Deepak Hooda at number seven as a pure batter did not make sense when Dinesh Karthik is the designated finisher. Even dropping Ravi Bishnoi after a fine game was questionable.
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