"Mohammed Shami sitting at home baffles me" - Ravi Shastri questions Mohammad Shami's absence from Asia Cup squad

The former head coach of Team India, Ravi Shastri has questioned about Mohammed Shami's exclusion from the side ahead of this Asia Cup tournament. These questions have raised after the Indian team failed to defend more than 20 runs in the last two matches against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Without the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel, the Indian team has failed to contain runs in the last two overs of the game. However, Mohammed Shami hasn't featured for India in the T20I since the T20 World Cup 2021 that was held in UAE.

In the recently concluded Indian Premier League, Mohammed Shami went on to scalp 20 wickets after getting featured in 16 matches for Gujarat Titans.

In a recent interaction with Star Sports, the former Indian head coach said, "I am completely amazed to see how Mohammed Shami has been sidelined by the current Indian team management and the selectors.

The Indian bowling hasn’t looked that effective in this year’s Asia Cup and a veteran like Shami should have certainly made it to the squad."

I'm seeing something different: Ravi Shastri

In addition to that, Ravi Shastri said, "I was quite surprised that you came here with just 4 fast bowlers. You needed that extra one. Someone like Mohammed Shami sitting at home baffles me. After the IPL he had, for him not to be able to make the cut is, obviously, I am seeing something different."

"When you need to win, you got to prepare better. I think the selection could have been better, especially for the fast bowlers. You know the conditions here. There's not much in it for the spinner. I was quite surprised that you came here with just four fast bowlers (including Hardik Pandya)," he added.

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"You needed that extra one… someone like Mohammed Shami sitting at home and cooling his heels baffles me. After the IPL he had, for him not to be able to make the cut is... Obviously, I'm seeing something different. When I say planning...

There should have been one extra fast bowler. One spinner less in the 15-16. You don't wanna be caught situation where one guy has a fever and then you have no one else to play. You have to play another spinner which can be embarrassing in the end," said the former Indian head coach.