India defeated the Pat Cummins-led team by 5 wickets in Mohali to win the opening match of the three-match ODI series against Australia. Shami was named player of the game, and his success has now presented management with a conundrum.
Both teams are keen to perfect their plans for the quadrennial tournament, thus the series, which is going to be played as a warm-up towards the ODI World Cup 2023, is crucial. The debate between Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami as the third pacer is heating up.
Three reasons why Mohammed Shami should not replace Shradul Thakur
1) More batting depth
Shardul Thakur (source-Twitter)
Thakur has stronger batting abilities than Mohammed Shami, who is unquestionably the superior bowler, but Thakur still has a little advantage. The other major sides, including Pakistan, Australia, England, as well as New Zealand, all have very deep batting lineups.
This is crucial because, in a competition such as the World Cup, there aren’t many tolerances for error, making even tiny contributions quite valuable. Thakur should thus be chosen over Shami in order to maintain team balance.
