'He's just cooling his heels at home' - Ravi Shastri baffled with Mohammed Shami's non-selection in India's T20I squad

Some serious questions are being raised on India's T20I squad after their loss to Sri Lanka in the Super Four stage of the ongoing Asia Cup. For the second time in a row, India couldn't defend more than 20 runs in the final two overs or perhaps couldn't defend a score in excess of 170. The bowling attack, in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah has come under the radar and Ravi Shastri has questioned Mohammed Shami's exclusion from the T20I side.

Shami, interestingly, hasn't played a single T20I since the T20 World Cup last year. While many felt his workload was being managed then, the pace bowler hasn't returned to the team in the shortest format. He was part of the victorious Gujarat Titans squad in the IPL 2022 and picked up 20 wickets in 16 outings.

Speaking after the match between India and Sri Lanka, Shastri felt that the selection of the squad for Asia Cup should've been better. He reckoned that when Shami should've been selected given that he can bowl at ferocious pace and hurry the batters and was perplexed that he wasn't picked despite having a great IPL season.

"When you need to win, you got to prepare better. I think the selection could have been better, especially for the fast bowlers. You know the conditions here. There's not much in it for the spinner. I was quite surprised that you came here with just four fast bowlers (including Hardik).

"You needed that extra one… someone like Mohammed Shami sitting at home and cooling his heels baffles me. After the IPL he had, for him not to be able to make the cut is... Obviously, I'm seeing something different," Shastri said during a discussion on Star Sports.

India picked only three pace bowlers in Asia Cup squad

Ravi Shastri also pointed out that India picked one less fast bowler in the Asia Cup squad. With an illness to Avesh Khan who has now been ruled out, India had no option but to give with only two specialist seamers and Hardik Pandya.

"When I say planning... There should have been one extra fast bowler. One spinner less in the 15-16. You don't wanna be caught situation where one guy has a fever and then you have no one else to play. You have to play another spinner which can be embarrassing in the end," Shastri added.