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‘Arshdeep Singh deserves better treatment’: Gambhir, Suryakumar face heat for 'baffling' call to pick Harshit Rana in XI
India picked two frontline pacers, with Jasprit Bumrah being the automatic choice, while Harshit Rana made the cut over Arshdeep Singh as the second pick.
Arshdeep Singh, India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is, failed to make the cut in the playing XI for the series opener against Australia in Canberra. The left-arm pacer, who played the first two ODIs earlier on the tour, was benched on Wednesday despite having a terrific record in the shortest format. The visitors picked two frontline pacers, with Jasprit Bumrah being the automatic choice, while Harshit Rana made the cut over Arshdeep as the second pick. Despite the overcast conditions, India went ahead with their tried and tested combination of playing three spinners - Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.
Despite being India’s only bowler with over 100 T20I wickets, Arshdeep has struggled to secure a consistent spot in the playing XI lately. During the Asia Cup, he spent most matches on the sidelines, featuring only against Oman and Sri Lanka—both dead rubbers—when Bumrah was rested.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan expressed his shock over Arshdeep's absence on his X account.
“Arshdeep singh…” Pathan wrote on X.
Seasoned domestic campaigner Priyank Panchal voiced his frustration over Arshdeep Singh’s irregular selection despite his strong T20I track record. He also raised concerns about the team management’s approach and the absence of a clear strategy ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup.
“The number of countries that’d leave their highest wicket taker in a format out of the XI so consistently with a World Cup coming up in four months is very limited. Arshdeep deserves better treatment. #AUSvIND,” Panchal wrote on X.
Live Score India vs Australia 1st T20I Updates
Shreevats Goswami was also stunned to see Harshit over Arshdeep and called it baffling. He was also critical of Rinku Singh not getting picked in the XI.
“Unless he hasn’t recovered I don’t see any reason to pick Harshit Rana before Arshdeep Singh. Baffling ! Also Rinku Singh not finding a place without doing anything wrong. Tough calls. #INDvsAUS #AUSvsIND,” he tweeted.
Australia opt to bowl first in Canberra
Meanwhile, Australia skipper Mitchell Marsh won the toss once again and elected to bowl first in the overcast conditions in Canberra.
However, India captain Suryakumar Yadav was content with batting first, saying it aligned perfectly with what he had planned to do had he won the toss.
“We were looking to bat first. I mean, it looks like a good wicket. And I heard from our analysts that there have not been a lot of games played here. Might get slower in the second innings. So, yeah, we wanted to bat first,” Surya said at the toss.
Talking about the team combination, Suryakumar said that bench strength is a headache but a good one to have, with many options to choose from.
“Big headache, yeah. It's a good headache. It's not a bad headache. It's a good headache to have. But yeah, good to have so many options. The guys who are missing out are Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep and Nitish,” he concluded.
