Former chief selector MSK Prasad feels that India should take a jumbo squad of 26 players to Australia. Prasad is of the opinion that squad should include players from India and India A squad.

The upcoming tour of Australia later this year will test the pedigree of Virat Kohli & Co. Indian cricketers avenged Australia challenge for the first time ever beating them 2-1 in the Test series. Expectations will be high this around and the challenges will be a lot more.

Meanwhile, MSK Prasad, who headed the selection panel in 2018, urged the management to take a big squad to Australia. Since taking a huge squad allows the team management to try out some new players in the squad. Especially the ones who’re knocking the selectors’ doors for a chance with strong performances.

MSK Prasad urges India to take a jumbo squad to Australia

“The team management and seniors will have an opportunity to look at the youngsters who are knocking the doors, In this process, you can also monitor those players who can be the potential guys for different spots in future,”. Former chief selector Prasad said.

MSK Prasad reasoned that the Indian players cannot be risked with exposure to net bowlers who may be carrying the virus. As a result, it is best to have Indian pool of bowlers who can act as net bowlers for India’s batsmen.

Since we cannot trust the net bowlers about their exposure to COVID, it would be ideal to go with a large contingent as we can be assured of all the players’ safety as they will be in a bio-secure environment,” Prasad reasoned.

Indian cricketers will have to stay in a mandatory 14 day quarantine period put in place for the Australia tour. MSK Prasad said that management can replace a player immediately if he tested positive if they have a jumbo squad in Australia. He also mentioned how left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed’s presence in the squad will help the Indian team in preparing against Mitchell Starc’s angled deliveries.

“In case someone tests COVID positive, then the players from this contingent can be picked as they would have served the mandatory quarantine period, On the other hand, a left-armer Khaleel Ahmed’s presence will help in preparing for Mitchell Starc’s angled deliveries” he added.

His Choices:

Openers: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul.

Middle-order: Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer;

Wicket-keeper: Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha.

Spinners: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shahbaz Nadeem, Rahul Chahar, Kuldeep Yadav, All-rounder: Hardik Pandya Pacers: Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Shardul Thakur.

Purely white ball: Deepak Chahar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Krunal Pandya.