Former India cricketer Suresh Raina warned the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma to learn from the mistakes during the 2019 ODI World Cup and not repeat them ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. The mega event starts in just about 12 day’s time in Dubai and Pakistan.
Suresh Raina’s comments came to light during the first ODI against England on Thursday in Nagpur. With no Jasprit Bumrah in the side, everybody thought left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh to share the new ball alongside Mohammed Shami. To everyone’s surprise, Delhi fast bowler Harshit Rana made his ODI debut.
Co-commentating alongside Suresh Raina, another former cricketer Aakash Chopra wondered what might be going on Arshdeep Singh’s mind after being left out. The ex-India opener also opined how tough it would be for India to make their selections right before the ICC event.
“Arshdeep (Singh) might be thinking, ‘didn’t I deserve to play today?’ India team got stuck in their combinations as you want to play only two pacers. Tough choice, isn’t it Suresh? You have called Arshdeep Singh in ODIs after a long time, Mohammed Shami is on a comeback trail and if you are thinking of taking Harshit Rana in the Champions Trophy, how can you without his debut (in the format)?” Aakash Chopra said on air.
In reply, the former all-rounder emphasised on the importance of coach and captain communicating with the players properly. “The most important question at this point is are the the captain or coach communicating with the players?” Suresh Raina asked.
“Did they tell Arshdeep that you had to sit because of this reason? Ye 2019 wali galti na hojaye ki paanch wicketkeeper gaye and koi teen khel raha hae, koi char khel raha hae (The mistakes of 2019 [ODI World Cup] should not happen that five wicketkeepers were taken and somebody is playing at no.3 and someone at no.4),” he added.
Arshdeep Singh’s numbers in ODIs
As compared to his 63 T20Is since 2022, the left-arm seamer played just eight ODIs. The last time Arshdeep Singh played an ODI was in 2024 against Sri Lanka.
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