Dubai: After two heavy losses in the ongoing T20 World Cup, Virat Kohli’s Team India find themselves on the verge of an early exit. Questions are bound to be raised. Plaudits and fans labelled in-form India as the favourites for the marquee event. Kohli and Co have played two games thus far and picked up two wickets. Not just the bowlers, the batters failed as well to put up big runs on the board. But all said and done – the glaring mistake made by the BCCI seems to be the selection of the squad.
Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were not fully fit and hence why were they picked in the first place.
Hardik Pandya: The Mumbai Indians all-rounder was coming back in action from an injury. In the IPL, he did not bowl and had picked up another niggle for which he was left out of the MI side. Yet, Kohli and Co made all the compromises to fit in Hardik. The move has certainly backfired. Ex-English captain Michael Vaughan criticised the move as well.
Varun Chakravarthy: The KKR mystery spinner was in form during the IPL, but it was clear that he was playing with a dodgy knee and was not 100 per cent fit. He looked tired and not at his best during the games against Pakistan and New Zealand. Chakravarthy, who had a long history of fitness issues, was not completely fit after he sustained an injury in the KKR vs DC Qualifier 2 match of IPL 2021.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar: India’s senior fast bowler has not been at his best lately, yet he was picked in the squad. He picked up merely three wickets in the UAE leg of the IPL. It is strange as there was a fitter Deepak Chahar there as well.
