I was disappointed with India’s team selection: Wasim Jaffer

India ended their Asia Cup 2022 campaign on a high note when the Men in Blue defeated Afghanistan in their final game of the tournament to win the contest by 101 runs, courtesy of Virat Kohli's century. India experienced a rollercoaster of a ride throughout the continental tournament, as after winning two games in a row, the Rohit Sharma-led side lost two consecutive games in the Super Four.

As a result of the two losses, India was knocked out of the tournament, and their loss against Sri Lanka put curtains on their campaign. Sharma’s captaincy was talked about a lot, as India kept changing their playing combination on a regular basis. Team India and Rohit Sharma received praises during the group stage but had to face an equal amount of backlash in the Super Four stage.

While speaking on BatBricks7 Presents Run Ki Runneeti show on CricTracker, when asked to rate Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, Jaffer said: “I was disappointed with the team selection. I have said this many times, repeatedly, that the players that the Indian team has, can do the job and they have the potential. But I feel that the right players are not deployed under the right situations.”

Jaffer reckoned that India made some forceful changes which led to the failed results. The former India cricketer said that India could have continued with Dinesh Karthik, who was in good touch, instead of resting him and bringing in out-of-form Rishabh Pant. He was disappointed with Rohit Sharma’s captaincy and his calls as he added:

“There could have been chances of India losing games even after those players playing, but I feel the two forceful changes that the team made after Ravindra Jadeja’s exit, it was not a like-for-like change. You had the choice and you could have played an in-form player like Dinesh Karthik. But you kept Pant only because you needed a left-hander, and you played Deepak Hooda only to get the sixth bowling option. That is where the game was affected. So, I would give him a 6/10.”