The Rohit Sharma-led Indian side has left for Australia well before the World Cup begins, in order to acclimatize to the conditions and have a good preparation for the marquee event. The side has already played a warm-up game against Western Australia and won it despite defending a low total. What has come as a great setback for the Indian side ahead of the World Cup is that Jasprit Bumrah won’t be a part of the squad. Meanwhile, Former Australian speedster, Brett Lee, has raised questions over the exclusion of a promising bowler from the Indian T20 World Cup squad.
Brett Lee has stated that he was quite surprised after not finding Umran Malik’s name in the Indian squad for the World Cup. Lee opines that Umran Malik, who bowls constantly at the speed of high 140s, should have been included in the squad.
“I would love to see Umran Malik unleashed in Australia” – Brett Lee
Brett Lee, while speaking to Khaleej Times, has said slammed the Indian selectors for not picking Umran Malik. He mocked the selectors by saying, “I mean when you have the best car in the world, and you leave it in the garage, then what’s the point of having that car? Umran Malik should have been picked in the Indian squad for the World Cup.”
Lee stressed the fact that despite Malik being raw and new to the international level, he still bowls at 150 kmph which makes him a perfect bowler for the Australian conditions. He said that he would love to see Umran Malik being unleashed in Australia. Brett Lee even suggested that Malik could still be fast-tracked into the side in the place of Bumrah or the stand-by player Deepak Chahar as both of them are ruled out of the World Cup due to injuries.
“Yes, he is young, yes, he is raw, but he bowls at 150 kmph, so get him in the team, get him to Australia where the ball flies through. It’s different when you have a guy bowling at 140 kmph and a guy who is bowling at 150 kmph.”
However, it is now certain that Umran Malik won’t be flying to Australia as the BCCI has announced Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, and Shardul Thakur as the three pacers who will be joining the Indian Squad in Australia.
Team Indian will next be seen playing in another warm-up game against Western Australia on Thursday. Thereafter, the team will be flying to Brisbane for the two official warm-up games against Australia and New Zealand which will be played on the 17th and the 19th of October respectively. India will then kick off their World Cup campaign against Pakistan on the 23rd of October at the MCG.