"With Due Respect…": Ex-India Star Counters Gautam Gambhir's Asia Cup Selection Verdict

India's team for the Asia Cup 2023 brought mixed reviews. Some fans and experts have pointed out what they see as the team's "flaws."

Former India star Gautam Gambhir said that the team needs a good backup for Hardik Pandya. He was talking about one of the problems with the team.

Shardul Thakur has shown that he can be a good batsman over time, but Gambhir doesn't think he is the best back-up for Hardik. Instead, the former India opener thought that Shivam Dube should have been chosen.

"Shivam Dube is a name they should have definitely thought about because of how good of shape he is. Hardik Pandya needs a back-up player. That can't be Shardul Thakur. "Shardul Thakur can't be Hardik's back-up," he told Star Sports in an interview.

Former India cricketer Suni Joshi strongly disagreed with Gambhir's point of view and told the managers not to mix ODIs and T20Is.

"I don't think that's true. Shivam Dube has been seen. In T20s, he would have been scoring, but this is a different style and tournament.

Even though I respect Gautam, this is how I feel. Shivam Dube has had trouble both with and without the ball.

Gambhir said that India's ODI team for the Asia Cup is pretty good, but he would have picked one more wrist spinner like Yuzvendra Chahal or Ravi Bishnoi.

"It's a decent team, and I think they picked a good team, but someone needs a wrist spinner. It's a seam-heavy squad, and he thought that either Ravi Bishnoi or Yuzvendra Chahal should have been picked because of the conditions. "When you play in India, it's important to keep two wrist spinners in the squad," he said.

"Somewhere, it's a one-dimensional attack with two left-arm spinners, one wrist spinner, and other pacers. It's a seam-heavy attack (four-seamers). I think they could have done better if they had chosen one of the two leg-spinners. I think you could give Mohammad Shami and Prasidh Krishna a break, and you could choose a wrist spinner," Gambhir said.