"Shows Insecurity...": Ex-India Star Slams Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid Over Mohammed Shami's Exclusion vs Pakistan

Team India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat Pakistan in their opening match of the Asia Cup at the Pallekele Stadium in Kandy. At the toss, Rohit announced that star batter Shreyas Iyer returns to the playing XI after recovering from a back injury. Also, there was no place for Mohammed Shami in the XI, with the management opting for Shardul Thakur as the third choice pacer after Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. Shardul's addition adds more depth to India's unsettled batting unit.

However, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar slammed India's decision to exclude Shami from the XI.

Manjrekar feels Shami would've been more threatening with the ball and  said that Shardul's addition reflects "insecurity" in India's batting.

"Mohammad Shami would've been more threatening to Pakistan than Shardul Thakur. You talk about batting depth, but bowling depth matters too. This shows the insecurity in your batting," Manjrekar said on Star Sports after toss.

India are also playing two spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

Pakistan have retained the playing XI that thrashed Nepal in their opening match of the tournament.

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

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