“Pathetic” – Fans react to Mohammed Shami’s absence in India playing XI against Pakistan at 2023 Asia Cup

Mohammed Shami didn’t find a place in India's playing XI for their game against arch-rivals Pakistan at the 2023 Asia Cup at Pallekele in Sri Lanka on Saturday, September 2.

The Men in Blue, instead, decided to play only two specialist pacers in the form of Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. They included all-rounder Shardul Thakur to add depth to the batting unit.

Speaking at the toss, India captain Rohit Sharma said:

“Iyer is back, Bumrah is back and we got three seamers. Got two spinners - Kuldeep and Jadeja.”

Shami opted to rest during the recently concluded ODI series in the West Indies, which India won 2-1. He has returned with 10 wickets in eight games this year so far. Against Pakistan, he has scalped just five wickets in three ODIs. Overall, the right-arm pacer has scalped 162 wickets in 90 ODIs so far.

Fans on X (previously known as Twitter) were disappointed at Shami’s absence in India playing XI against Pakistan. One user wrote:

"Of course pathetic decision."

Here are some of the other reactions:

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India opt to bat against Pakistan as Mohammed Shami misses out

India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat against Pakistan on Saturday. The Men in Blue included two specialist spinners in the form of Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI.

Sharma said at the toss:

“We are going to bat first. There is a bit of weather around, but can't think much about it. Got to play good cricket, you need to embrace the challenge, embrace the situation. We had some time off after the West Indies series.”

He continued:

“Everyone was up for those drills and challenges in Bangalore. Let's see what we can achieve in this tournament. It's a quality tournament with quality oppositions. At the end of the day w,e need to see what we can achieve as a team.”

Babar Azam-led Pakistan, on the other hand, have opted to field the same playing XI after registering a 238-run win over Nepal in their opening game.

India XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan (w), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

Pakistan XI: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.

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