Rana has performed adequately in the opportunities he has received leading up to the ICC event; however, Ponting believes that left-arm pacer Arshdeep is more appropriately suited to bowl during all stages of the 50-over format.
New Delhi: Australian legend Ricky Ponting has chosen Arshdeep Singh over Harshit Rana for India’s opening match in the Champions Trophy against Bangladesh on Thursday. The team, led by Rohit Sharma, aims to address the significant gap created by the injury of their leading fast bowler, Jasprit Bumrah.
Rana has performed reasonably well in the opportunities he has received leading up to the ICC event; however, Ponting believes that left-arm pacer Arshdeep is more suited for bowling in all phases of the 50-over format.
“I would go with the left-armer and I’d go with Arshdeep (to replace Bumrah),” Ponting said on The ICC Review.
“We know how good he’s been in T20 cricket and if you think about the skill set, he probably provides a similar skill set to what Bumrah does with new ball and death overs and that’s what India will miss.
“That’s taking nothing away from Harshit Rana because I think he has got a lot of talent and we know what he can do with the new ball, but I don’t think his death skills are as good as what Arshdeep Singh’s are.”
The ex-captain of Australia believes that having a left-arm fast bowler in the team is consistently “important.”
“And just that left-arm variation, someone that can bowl left-arm with a new ball and move the new ball. We know how important they are and crucial they can be, especially in big tournaments when you’ve got a lot of right-handers at the top. I would personally lean that way if I was India.”
Ponting mentioned that the return to form of players like Rohit and Virat Kohli in the recent ODI series against England is a positive sign for India.
It’s great to see Shreyas Iyer back in the team and playing well in the middle order. He was great,” he said.
More importantly for India, (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) were back scoring runs and that’s what they need going into big tournaments.
“Rohit, Virat, your experienced players, you need them to stand up in the big tournaments in the big moments. So, everything for India right now, with the exception of the loss of Bumrah, everything else looks in good order.
