‘Hard to put Bhuvneshwar, Chahar in XI’: Ex-AUS player wants Rohit Sharma to fix 2 major flaws, makes huge T20 WC claim

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg on Monday pointed out two major flaws which he wants captain Rohit Sharma to fix, before making a massive claim on the Indian team pertaining to the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

Hogg’s comment came after India’s third straight whitewash win at home, beating Sri Lank 3-0 in a T20I series. The former cricketer, sharing his thoughts on his YouTube channel, hailed India’s bowling depth, especially in the Pace department, admitting that he will find it hard to put senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and youngster Deepak Chahar in the playing XI for the World Cup team.

“India’s pace attack depth in T20 cricket is exceptional. If I’m picking a team for the T20 WC for India, I’m going to find it hard to put Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar in there with the way Siraj, Avesh Khan, and Harshal Patel have been bowling,” he said. “They’ve got the best spin depth as well. Their batters after the top 2 are just exploding. Iyer, how good is he? Best selection in the IPL Auction.”

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India have been on a winning streak in the format, claiming victories in 12 straight matches since November which includes three consecutive whitewash wins. However, Hogg feels that Rohit still needs to look at two major issues – death bowling and spin in the middle overs. He wants the management to add more variety to the spin attack as Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav crumbled under pressure against Sri Lanka in the third T20I in Dharamsala.

“I think Rohit Sharma will be looking at a couple of areas in the death bowling and spin in the middle overs. I think he thinks that the spin can have a little bit more variety. Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja, very good quality bowlers, but when under pressure, opposition teams are able to get to them,” he said.

Besides the two, India also have R Ashwin, Yuzbvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar and Varun Chakravarthy in the spin department for T20I cricket.

“When Sri Lankans swept Kuldeep, he did not really have a ball to counter that. When it is not turning, Jadeja sometimes bowls a little quicker, it gets easier to hit down the ground, so that’s a little area there. India are going to be tough to beat in the T20 World Cup,” he concluded.