"Can Be Our Trump Card": Harbhajan Singh Backs Young Pacer For T20 World Cup Berth

12.09.2022 - 14:05 sports.ndtv.com

The Asia Cup 2022 ended on Sunday with Sri Lanka getting crowned as champions. The tournament ended on a bitter-sweet note for Team India as they failed to make it into the final but the fans also saw the much-awaited 71st century from star-batter Virat Kohli.

The Rohit Sharma-led side will now be gearing up for the upcoming T20 World Cup. As the squad for the prestigious event will be announced in some time, experts and fans have been expressing their opinions regarding the players who should make the cut.

Similarly, former spinner Harbhajan Singh has backed pacer Umran Malik and stated that he can be India's "trump card" on Australian pitches. "Who all wants to see today Mr 150 Umran Malik in the World Cup team for India ??

Can be our trump card on those bouncy pitches in Australia.. Any thoughts?" tweeted Harbhajan. Umran impressed everyone with his pace during the Indian Premier League 2022, clocking over 150 kph regularly for Sunrisers Hyderabad, and scalped 22 wickets in 14 matches.

cricket India Cricket Team cup Asia Cup Harbhajan Singh Umran Malik Australia Ireland India Sri Lanka Hyderabad

The 2022 T20 World Cup is just around the corner as the tournament gets underway on October 16 in Australia. Rohit Sharma-led Team India would open their campaign on October 23 against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The management right now is sweating over the fitness of lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah and if reports are to be believed by, it does not look promising in terms of his availability for the marquee event.

"MCG My Home Ground": Pakistan Pacer Warns India Ahead Of Clash At T20 World Cup

Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf is banking on his knowledge gained from the Big Bash League to outsmart Indian batters in the marquee clash of the T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on October 23. The arch-rivals, who don't play bilateral series due to geo-political tensions, will clash for a fourth a time in one year at the MCG.

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli will have to perform well for India to lift T20 World Cup trophy: Anjum Chopra

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli will have to be in their best form and also get adequate support from likes of all-rounder Hardik Pandya as the shortest format of the game is pretty unpredictable. ICC T20 World Cup is set to begin from October 16 and will go on till November 13. "We have already seen that the shortest format of the game is anybody's game.

MS Dhoni Was Open To Everyone's Suggestion: Harbhajan Singh On 15th Anniversary Of 2007 T20 World Cup Win

Legendary Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh said on Saturday that former skipper MS Dhoni gave his players a lot of freedom while playing during their ICC T20 World Cup 2007 campaign, which the Men in Blue won. On the fifteenth anniversary of Team India's ICC T20 World Cup 2007 triumph, members of Team India recalled their early impressions of MS Dhoni on the Star Sports programme 'Class of 2007: The Reunion of '07 Champions'. "It did not feel to us that MS Dhoni was our skipper till he lifted the trophy. It was so because everyone was contributing their suggestions as to what should be done during a certain stage in a game. He was very open to it and would let us go ahead with whatever we thought was best," said Harbhajan Singh.

"Only Thing That Concerns Me...": Sanjay Manjrekar On The Need Of "X-Factor" In India's T20 World Cup Squad

A tried and tested Indian squad has been named for the T20 World Cup 2022. The squad bore a striking resemblance to the one that played in the recently-concluded Asia Cup, barring the exception of Jasprit Bumrah and Harshal Patel - both of whom made a return to the squad after recuperating from injuries. In the spin department, India has gone ahead with three specialists - Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel. Former Indian cricket team player Sanjay Manjrekar gave his take on the spin troika.

"Performance Of Indian Team Dipping": Former Star Pacer Issues Warning Ahead of T20 World Cup

Despite setting a daunting target of 209, India were outplayed by Australia in the first T20I of the three-match series at the IS Bindra Cricket Stadium in Mohali. Indian bowlers, including Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0/52), Harshal Patel (0/49) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/42), leaked runs heavily as Australia chased down the total with ease. Notably, Axar Patel took three wickets while Umesh Yadav also made two important scalps on his return to the T20I team, despite also going for runs. While analysing the match, former India pacer RP Singh that the Indian bowlers failed to execute their plans.