Former India bowling coach not happy with IPL star's exclusion from T20 World Cup squad

Former India bowling coach Bharat Arun believes the Indian team has picked far too many spinners in the T20 World Cup squad. Arun, while speaking to former cricketer WV Raman, said three spinners in the T20 World Cup squad is too many and that the selectors and management should have picked Umran Malik instead of one spinner. 

Bharat Arun highlights flaw in India's selection

Arun acknowledged that the spinners will have a very important role to play in Australia, where there is bounce and the grounds are big, but also noted that three spinners are too many. Arun said young pace-bowling sensation Umran Malik would have been a good pick in place of one spinner, citing his express pace as the reason. 

"Umran Malik is exciting, he's got the pace. And given the right kind of fields he's done pretty well in the IPL. Considering the wickets in Australia I feel India have carried far too many spinners. Somebody like a Umran Malik would have been a great fill-up for the team," Arun told WV Raman on his talk show 'Wednesdays with WV'.

"Yes there is bounce, the grounds are big spinners have a very important role in Australia but I think three spinners are too many. Because at any given point you would be playing just one spinner in the team and you have the choice of two spinners in the side. Three spinners is too many. That's why I said Umran Malik instead of one spinner would have been a very very wise move," he added.

2022 T20 World Cup

Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Axar Patel are the three spinners in India's T20 World Cup squad. All-rounder Deepak Hooda can also bowl part-time spin if required. Meanwhile, the Indian team has suffered some serious blows ahead of the T20 World Cup with a couple of injuries in the form of Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja. Malik was aniticipated to replace Bumrah in the World Cup squad but Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj eventually received the green signal from the BCCI.  

India squad for ICC T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh.

Image: PTI