Curious case of Arshdeep Singh
The Indian team management's obsession with batting depth has been a topic of discussion on this tour and some of the batting failures like a paltry total of 125 at the MCG does question the merit of such a strategy.
On a pitch with extra bounce, India went in with three spinners and once again Arshdeep didn't find place in the playing XI despite being the only Indian bowler with 100 T20I wickets.
"If Jasprit Bumrah is playing, then Arshdeep Singh's name should be second on the list. If Bumrah is not playing, Arshdeep Singh's name would be first on the list," Ravichandran Ashwin had said on his Hindi YouTube channel and he couldn't have been more blunt.
In fact, a look at the statistics suggests that often India's No. 8 in the past 15 to 20 games has faced an average of five balls per innings and hence whether it is a viable option is being questioned repeatedly.
There is a school of thought that when one stacks the team with too many batter, each one at the top of the order feels that there is someone who is coming after me and the approach is more cavalier on tracks which warrants a bit more discretion while batting.
Even if one considers that Harshit is a capable batter, which he certainly is, some of the numbers during the second game would certainly be an eye opener.
Harshit scored 35 off 33 balls, with three fours and a six.
If one takes out 18 runs scores through boundaries in four balls, the beefy all-rounder from Delhi managed 17 off 29 balls and at one stage wasted deliveries keeping Abhishek Sharma stranded at the other end.
It is now understood that Harshit features firmly in head coach Gambhir's plans and is a non-negotiable entity as far as current playing elevens are concerned but his bowling has been inconsistent to say the least.
But at Hobart, where the open area on one side will aid swing bowling, India would do well to think of sacrificing one spin bowling option at the altar of playing Arshdeep.
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