Former Pakistan batter and presenter Kamran Akmal has stated that the Indian team shouldn’t have benched the 15-year-old opening batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for the first T20I against Afghanistan on Sunday, September 13, in Delhi.
Speaking exclusively on the Game Plan podcast, Akmal asserted that the Indian team, led by Shreyas Iyer, should have played their B team in the three-match series against Afghanistan with more rest for pacers like Jasprit Bumrah.
“One hundred percent (on whether India should have played their B team). Sooryavanshi does not sit out against this team. If you play them against England, you are dropping them against Afghanistan,” Akmal said on the Game Plan podcast.
“I think series like these help develop backup players. Whether it is MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, they did not play against such teams. They would get three or four core players to rest. I don’t understand why Bumrah is playing, why Arshdeep Singh is playing,” he added.
“I think they had a lot of options. It is difficult for any team to play in India. This was the best chance for them to get new players. They should have prepared Sooryavanshi. We have been watching this for the last 12-15 years. You are making the whole team play against such teams. There is no need to play Arshdeep Singh. No need to play Bumrah. In fact, there is no need to play Abhishek Sharma, either. You will see that he becomes a butcher. He does not leave. He scored 82 runs in 33 balls,” he noted.
Additionally, the former keeper-batter also reserved some praise for the mystery spinner Varun Chakravathy, who returned with the figures of 1/16 in his full quota of four overs in the first T20I in Delhi.
“Varun’s rhythm was good. The team was like this, the opponent was like this. But you will see, from the World Cup to the England series, he was not doing so well. Maybe after playing this series, Varun can bring his rhythm back. It will be a good sign for the Indian team,” he concluded.
