“His economy rate is always on the higher side” - Piyush Chawla backs Mohammed Shami over Shardul Thakur for World Cup

Indian leg-spinner Piyush Chawla reckons that pacer Mohammed Shami would be a better choice than all-rounder Shardul Thakur in the Indian playing XI for the upcoming World Cup. While admitting that Thakur is a good player, Chawla pointed out that he isn’t consistent with the bat and concedes a lot of runs with the ball even though he picks up quite a few wickets.

The Shami vs Thakur debate continued following India’s five-wicket win over Australia in Mohali in the first ODI on Friday, September 22. While Shami registered career-best one-day figures of 5/51, Thakur went for 78 runs and did not manage to claim a single wicket.

India have preferred Thakur over Shami in one-dayers recently including in the Asia Cup. Sharing his thoughts on the debate [2:00], Chawla picked the frontline bowler over the all-rounder in India’s preferred playing XI for the World Cup. He told ESPNCricinfo:

“If we talk about Shardul's batting, it's not that he is somebody who will come and give you those quick fire 30, 40 runs off 20 balls. He's a good player for a run-a-ball or sometimes maybe like 20-ball 25 runs. And if you talk about his bowling, I agree that he has picked up wickets and he has got quite a few of them. But his economy rate is always on the higher side.

“Also, if you talk about the conditions where India is going to play, most of the wicket is going to be a bit flat. So you need somebody who's like a proper bowler, who can come in one change and still bowl at the 135-140 mark,” Chawla added.

Thakur has featured in 43 ODIs so far, claiming 63 wickets at an average of 29.79 and an economy rate of 6.20. With the bat, he has scored 329 runs in 25 innings at an average of 17.31 and a strike rate 105.11.

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“You need this kind of seam position” - Chawla analyzes Shami’s success on batting track in Mohali

Chawla termed Shami’s upright seam position as one of the keys to his success on a flat batting track in Mohali. According to the leg-spinner, the pacer’s philosophy of keeping things simple is also a contributing factor. He concluded:

“The best part was the way he was bowling on that particular pitch and the way he hit those hard lengths. He is someone who keeps things very simple no matter how the wicket is or whether he is playing with red ball or white ball. He is somebody who bowls with an upright seam and you need this kind of seam position when you bowl on these kind of tracks.”

Shami got the early wicket of Mitchell Marsh (4) before knocking over Steve Smith (41) with a beauty. He returned at the death to clean up Australia’s lower order.