IND vs SA 2022: “I was a bit surprised to be honest” - Wasim Jaffer on Deepak Chahar being left out of playing XI for Lucknow ODI

Wasim Jaffer has admitted that he was a bit surprised with Team India’s decision to not include Deepak Chahar in the playing XI for the first ODI against South Africa in Lucknow on Thursday, October 6.

Terming the bowling all-rounder India’s “best bet” to replace Jasprit Bumrah in the T20 World Cup squad, he added that the 30-year-old should be given as much game time as possible.

Chahar is among the standby players in Team India’s T20 World Cup squad. According to reports, there's a toss-up between him and Mohammed Shami to replace the injured Bumrah in the main squad for the ICC event Down Under.

While Shami is not available for the series against South Africa, Chahar is part of the squad. However, India preferred to go in with Mohammed Siraj and Avesh Khan in the first ODI. Sharing his views on Chahar’s exclusion, Jaffer told ESPNcricinfo:

“I was a bit surprised to be honest, because he is in that reserve squad for the T20 World Cup. You’re best bet (to replace Bumrah) is Deepak Chahar since Shami hasn’t had any game time. Chahar bowled well in the South Africa T20I series and he has batted really well. He can also give you wickets in the powerplay.”

The 44-year-old added that the Men in Blue cannot afford to go in with only five bowling options, like they did in the match on Thursday. Jaffer stated:

“India did not have that sixth bowling option. That is something they need to look at. They went with only five bowling options. That is something that you don’t do in this day and age. You’ve got to have 6-7 bowling options.”

While Shardul Thakur (2/35) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/39) were economical in the opening ODI, the other three bowlers proved very expensive. India ended up conceding 249 runs in 40 overs in the rain-shortened game and responded with 240 for eight.

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“I’ll look to bring them in” - Jaffer suggests changes for 2nd ODI

Looking ahead to the second match of the series, the former India opener suggested that the hosts should bring in both Chahar and Shahbaz Ahmed to strengthen the batting and bowling departments. Jaffer opined:

“The batting finishes at No. 7 with Shardul. Today, if there was somebody like Chahar or even Shahbaz, I think India would have got even closer or might have won the game as well. I’ll look to bring them in to strengthen both departments.”

Down 0-1, India will have to win the second ODI in Ranchi on Sunday, October 9, to stay alive in the three-match series.