Former chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth furious over Shardul Thakur’s selection in the World Cup squad

India announced their 15-member World Cup squad on September 5. The squad was on expected lines and there were not any such surprises that caught the eyeballs of the majority of experts.

Yes, there were questions raised over the omission of Yuzvendra Chahal and the inclusion of Suryakumar Yadav given the fact that the batter hasn’t done anything of note in the 50-over format, and with Chahal it was the case of inconsistency in performance which coasted him his place in the World Cup squad.

This was the third consecutive time across formats that Chahal had failed to make it to the WC squad. Earlier he missed the 2021 T20 World Cup in UAE and not getting a chance to play in the T20 World Cup in Australia last year.

The Right Decision?

Another hotly debated topic was the inclusion of Shardul Thakur. The all-rounder has no doubt performed well with the ball in recent outings but has failed to deliver with the bat for which he has been selected to bat at number eight to contribute crucial runs lower down the order which he has failed to do since the 2021 T20 World Cup while scoring just one fifty in 12 ODI innings since 2022.

Unhappy Cheeka

Former chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth touched upon the same thing after Shardul’s selection in the 15-member squad for the World Cup. The former Indian opener said on Star Sports:

“Everyone is saying we need a batter at No. 8…who needs a batter at No. 8? Shardul Thakur is only scoring 10 there and he doesn’t even bowl for 10 overs. In the match against Nepal, how many overs did he bowl? 4 only. See, don’t see performances against sides like West Indies or Zimbabwe. Yes if he performs well, then keep that in the back of your mind, but don’t give importance to that. Instead stress on performances against teams like Australia or New Zealand. That is why I say, don’t get fooled by overall averages, always look at individual matches.”

To further prove his point Srikkanth gave the example of the 2011 World Cup squad. He said “Look at the 2011 World Cup squad. Shall I say who were the reserves? There were two spinners – R Ashwin and Piyush Chawla and one medium pacer in Munaf Patel, along with one batter in Yusuf Pathan.”