Dubai: Ever since India selected their squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy, there has been criticism about them having five spinners in the team. The Indian captain Rohit Sharma hit back at the critics regarding the issue ahead of the fixture against Bangladesh. Rohit refuted the opinion that India should not have opted for spinners.
While addressing a press conference ahead of India’s opening clash against Bangladesh, Rohit stated that he looked at the five spin options as two full-time spinners and three all-rounders. He also added that no one asks questions to the teams who have included three fast-bowling all-rounders as to why they have six pacers in the squad.
"They are 2 spinners and 3 all-rounders. I am not looking at them as 5 spinners. Those three guys can bat and can bowl also. The rest of the teams have fast-bowling all-rounders. You don't ask them why they have 6 fast bowlers," Rohit Sharma said on Wednesday, February 19.
Rohit Sharma said " i don't see as 5 spinners, it's 2 spinners and the rest are all-rounders, they give us the depth". pic.twitter.com/LMW4z6YvqI
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 19, 2025
Rohit further explained the reasoning behind team selection saying the team management wanted to go for players with two skills rather than one skill.
"We work on our strengths and build our team around it. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar give us a different dimension to our squad. They give us a lot of depth. That is why we wanted to try and bring players who have 2 skills rather than one skill," Sharma said.
Rohit Sharma said " champions trophy is a very important tournament for us". pic.twitter.com/LkOzkRxXDf
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 19, 2025
Dubai International Cricket Stadium which will host the India vs Bangladesh fixture has hosted 58 ODIs since 2009. Pacers have taken 466 wickets with an average of 28.6 and an economy of 4.8. The spinners have a combined tally of 334 wickets till now at the Dubai Stadium.
