Last Update on: August 20th, 2022 at 04:20 pm
Former Indian national selector Saba Karim was astonished over Indian pace bowler Deepak Chahar being sidelined in the second ODI against Zimbabwe.
India’s stand-in skipper KL Rahul confirmed that Chahar was benched with Shardul Thakur coming in his place.
Deepak Chahar was replaced by Shardul Thakur in the second ODI
The exact reason behind Chahar’s omission wasn’t revealed by Rahul. India won the toss and opted to bowl first.
“(We have) Just one change – Deepak Chahar misses out, Shardul Thakur comes in,” Rahul mentioned during the toss.
Difficult to understand that actually: Saba Karim on Deepak Chahar’s absence in India’s playing XI
Playing his first competitive match since February 20, 2022, Chahar returned with figures of 3/27 from seven overs against Zimbabwe in the first ODI.
He accounted for the early wickets of Innocent Kaia, Tadiwanashe Marumani and Wessely Madhevere as India bowled the hosts out for 189 in 40.3 overs.
Karim guessed the only reason behind Chahar’s benching could be to safeguard him from any further injuries. The former Indian keeper said that Avesh Khan would have been the ideal replacement for Chahar instead of Shardul.
“Difficult to understand that actually. Unless it is on the advice of the support staff to manage the workload and keep him fresh, to make sure there’s not much pressure on his body. It is difficult for a fast bowler to come back from an injury and play regular matches,” he said on Sony Sports.
“But more importantly, I was expecting Avesh Khan to replace Deepak Chahar and not Shardul Thakur. Avesh Khan is in your Asia Cup squad so it would have been ideal for him to get more game time. More so if you are looking to draft him in the ODI setup. The selectors have so far been looking at him more as a T20I option,” he added.
Zimbabwe were batting at 160 for 9 after 38 overs as Shardul Thakur picked three wickets for 38 runs from seven overs.
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