Better pacers present in Indian T20 team than Shami: Ponting makes a BOLD statement on Asia Cup 2022 squad

As soon as India squad was announced for the Asia Cup 2022, fans started targetting the BCCI selectors again for ignoring Mohammed Shami. The Bengal pacer is not part of Team India squad for the multi-nation tournament that is to kickstart on August 27. The big game between India and Pakistan is slated to take place on August 28 at Dubai International Stadium. There is no Jasprit Bumrah in the 15-man squad so fans are arguing taking Shami would have made sense. However, the selectors are taking Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh, two young pacers, alongwith Bhuvneshwar Kumar to UAE. This is a decision, it seems, looking at the future. 

Australian great Ricky Ponting agrees with the decision, saying Shami's real strengths do not lie in T20s but Tests.   

"He's (Shami) been a very, very good bowler for India for a long time now. If you look at his strengths, his Test cricket is probably where he thrives the most," Ponting, a two-time World Cup-winning captain, said in the latest episode of The ICC Review.

#AsiaCup2022: #RickyPonting predicts winner of India vs Pakistan clash#indvspak https://t.co/sIbsIrLAFR — Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) August 12, 2022

"I think there are better fast bowlers in Indian T20 cricket than Shami and they've only named three (for the Asia Cup). So if there's potentially four named in the squad he might be the fourth man in."

India have only 3 pace bowling options in Asia Cup knowing the nature of the tracks in UAE and Hardik Pandya also in the mix. Ponting feels India may opt to bring only 4 pacers to Australia as well for the T20 World Cup. 

"I would think they'll probably only have the four quicks coming to Australia. They'll still want to bring a lot of spin here even though the wickets are probably not that conducive," Ponting said. The Asia Cup will be held in Dubai and Sharjah from August 27 to September 11 and Ponting picked India as the favourites to win the tournament.