Team India endured a poor outing -- specifically with the ball, in the first ODI of the three-match series against Australia. The side conceded a huge total of 374/6, as Australia registered a convincing 66-run victory.
The pacers looked far from their best, as the trio of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and Navdeep Saini conceded 215 runs between them in 30 overs. Only Shami looked threatening to the Australian batsmen, as he bowled with an economy rate of 5.90 and took three wickets.
While the side felt the absence of a sixth bowling option as Hardik Pandya was included in the XI solely as a batsman, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes that India's issues in the pace attack could be solved with the inclusion of Deepak Chahar.
Chahar is only included in the T20I squad in the ongoing tour of Australia. Ahead of the ODI series, T Natarajan was included in the 50-over squad.
Taking to Twitter, Manjrekar wrote, "Would love to bring Deepak Chahar in the mix for ODIs. Will give a Bhuvi flavour to the seam attack. And Kuldeep must play ODIs. Wicket taker!"
In another tweet, he agreed with a fan's suggestion on bringing Chahar in for the ODIs. "Agree 100%. Deepak chahar to compliment Bumrah and Shami. Like Bhuvi used to. Can be wicket taker with the new ball.
Manjrekar also acknowledged another fan's criticism of the current set of bowlers in the Indian team. The fan argued that all the pacers in the current ODI squad are more suited to death-over situations, rather than creating troubles with the new ball.
"Inclusion of T Natarajan instead of Deepak Chahar ! How many death bowlers do you need in an 50 overs match? Shami, Bumrah, Saini and now Natarajan. Deepak Chahar could do what's Hazelwood is doing today," the fan said. Manjrekar replied, "Well said!
