India and West Indies are involved in the second ODI game of the series in Trinidad right now. The Indian Team has made a single change. Avesh Khan replaced Prasidh Krishna in the XI. However, many were upset with the exclusion of Arshdeep Singh. Actually, Arshdeep looks to be a better investment at this point in time than Avesh. In fact, there are quite a few reasons why Arshdeep Singh should have played ahead of Avesh Khan for India vs West Indies 2nd ODI.
Avesh Khan picked for India vs West Indies 2nd ODI
Avesh Khan did well in IPL 2021 and followed it up with a decent show in IPL 2022. In terms of seniority with respect to Team India, he is closer to playing XI. Hence, he has been given his ODI debut ahead of Arshdeep Singh.
However, it needs to be noted that India already has the likes of Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, who offer similar attributes to that of Avesh. Therefore, it is hard to understand why Avesh has been given a game ahead of Arshdeep.
Arshdeep is a better bet than Avesh for the 2023 World Cup
Coming to Arshdeep, his List A stats are better compared to Avesh right now. The sample size is low but the Punjab cricketer is ahead of Avesh in terms of numbers, as well. Therefore, a few fans were upset with the decision by Rahul Dravid.
List A ODI stats
•Avesh Khan :
Matches: 22, Wickets: 17, Eco : 5.43, Avg : 50.2Advertisement•Arshdeep Singh:
Matches: 17, Wickets: 21, Eco : 4.76 Avg : 30.9I don't know, on what basis these players get picked ahead of Arshdeep Singh! Extremely awful selection. pic.twitter.com/TwfdIa8T34
— David (@CricketFreakD) July 24, 2022
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Adding to this, Arshdeep did well in IPL 2022, much better than Avesh, although the wickets column may not show that. He has more variations than Avesh, the most important of them being that Arshdeep is a left-arm pacer.
In the 2011 World Cup, Zaheer Khan was India’s best bowler. His angle worked in India’s favor in many games. Since the 2023 World Cup at home is coming close, Arshdeep can be seen as an option to fill that department. It is best that he is given a good run before the event. Nevertheless, with many games scheduled in the coming weeks, it needs to be seen if the management tries Arshdeep in the ODI setup.
