India vs Australia : “The selectors missed a trick”, Mohammed Kaif feels Virat Kohli is hard done by

India vs Australia : “The selectors missed a trick”, Mohammed Kaif feels Virat Kohli is hard done by

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli

India‘s dearth of all-rounders has been the highlight of the ODI series against Australia so far. With the second ODI already underway, captain Virat Kohli is again in a peculiar spot with no sixth bowling option in the side. Yuzvendra Chahal and Jasprit Bumrah‘s dismal performance in the first ODI and Navdeep Saini‘s loose bowling in the second encounter means India missed all-rounder Hardik Pandya‘s medium pace.

Following his back injury, Pandya hasn’t bowled a ball in competitive cricket and this leaves no other option for Kohli to turn to. Ravindra Jadeja is the only allrounder in the squad. And this leaves India vulnerable with a long tail and only five bowling options.

We will deal with problems days before World Cup

Mohammed Kaif

Following India’s 66 run humbling in the first ODI, former India batsman Mohammad Kaif feels that the selectors are at fault here. Kaif opines that no amount of “chopping and changing” in the side will give India the sixth bowler they have been searching for. He adds that one cannot help but feel for the captain who is paying for the selectors’ blunder.

“No amount of chopping or changing will give Virat Kohli the sixth bowling option on this tour. A pace bowling all-rounder who doesn’t bowl, a long tail, no part-time bowler in top order or on the bench. Feel for the captain. The selectors missed a trick I think,” Kaif tweeted.

The 39-year-old took yet another dig at the selectors as he replied to Aakash Chopra‘s Tweet. Kaif quipped that the team management will rather wait for the next World Cup than grooming an allrounder now.

“Since playing 5 bowlers is too big a risk considering niggles or a bad day on the field for someone, partner grooming an all-rounder is not a bad idea. Oh sorry, I forgot we will deal with playing XI problems at the last minute, days before the next World Cup,” he tweeted quoting Chopra’s tweet.

After struggling for 35 overs in the second outing of the series, Kohli finally turned to Pandya who stepped up to bowl his first over this year. And he was up to the task as he went on to dismiss set batsman Steve Smith right after he reached his century. The situation was such that the skipper turned to Mayank Agarwal for an over earlier only to see him taken apart by Smith.

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