IND vs SL: The BCCI has finally announced the long-awaited squad for India’s tour of Sri Lanka, and Gautam Gambhir is ready to go with his boys to conquer the Lankan islands.
The tour was already much anticipated and buzzing, as the T20Is have seen a major change due to the retirement of the senior pros and their replacement by possible young talents. Also, on Gambhir’s urge, senior players like skipper Rohit and veteran Virat have returned to the ODI format, and India will also have the services of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer for the first time since the Cricket World Cup 2023.
However, there have also been several decisions made by the BCCI and several questions raised over Ajit Agarkar and Gambhir’s decisions to drop a few of the most informed players and give extended chances to underperforming players.
Also, there has been a huge surge of controversy among the fans. The fans who once booed the MI skipper have now come in support of the all-rounder as he lost his T20I captaincy spot to Suryakumar Yadav. This decision was mostly made by the BCCI based on Gambhir’s advice for a fitter player to be made the skipper in the shortest format.
Insight into India’s Squad for Sri Lanka Tour
Top 5 controversial player selections:
Riyan Parag
India has included Riyan Parag, the Rajasthan Royals’ young talent, who performed superiorly in the IPL 2024. Parag has now been picked for both the T20I and ODI formats, which seemed quite unlikely.
Riyan Parag was handed over a key role in the team for the Zimbabwe tour; however, both times he came in to bat, he failed to give them a promising performance. However, his sudden extended opportunity, leaving several crucial players behind, is quite a controversial decision made by the new coach.
Avesh Khan in T20Is and Shivam Dube in ODIs
Khan has been one of the finest players in the IPL and domestic circles and was hence handed a chance on the Zimbabwe tour; however, there seems no reason that the speedster has been dropped on the very next white-ball tour.
Shivam Dube’s inclusion in the T20 World Cup squad was already a matter of debacle, and just like everyone predicted, the player had a horrible World Cup; however, despite all this, he has not only retained his spot in T20s but also replaced Pandya, who asked for some time off in the ODI format. Dube’s lack of form and, despite this, his turning into an all-format white ball cricketer for the Men in Blue seems like a bad decision.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Kuldeep Yadav
Jaiswal has set exceptional records, as the 22-year-old is India’s only batter to have featured in the top 10 rank holders among the ICC’s test and T20I batters. Jaiswal, after being such a dignified batter across the two formats, has once again not been included as an optional opener for the ODI format. Looking at Gill’s repetitive, weak performance in ODIs, this is unlikely to keep him as the only opener, and Gambhir’s decision seems very controversial.
The Kul-Cha era is gone; however, Kuldeep Yadav is now one of India’s finest spinners, often leading the way for their attack. Kuldeep, who played an inevitable role in the T20 World Cup, has now lost his spot in the T20I squad to Bishnoi, who is a good option, but still, dropping the World Cup campaigner is not a wise decision.
Abhishek Sharma
The SRH batter, who has recently been in the buzz and has been named as India’s next-best batting all-rounder in the making, has been dropped from T20Is in the very next series following his great run in the Zimbabwe tour.
Sharma was provided to open the match on two occasions, on which he scored his first T20I century and also picked up two wickets in the series. The fans find no reason why the rising talent has been dropped off the team, and with fans rather expecting him in ODIs as well, this is the worst decision made by Gambhir and co.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
The internet is taken by storm, as Indian fans seem to support their star player. Gaikwad is one of India’s most stellar performers, and he is also being considered as India’s future star, most likely to replace the great Virat Kohli. Gaikwad’s maturity and his flexibility to play in all positions seem to be great qualities to replace the veteran. Many have thought of him as India’s future leader as well.
However, in the very first outing under Gautam Gambhir, India suddenly got rid of the CSK skipper. Gaikwad was felt to be included across formats, but him losing his place even in the T20 squad seems to be one of the worst calls made by the selectors ahead of the Sri Lanka tour, and this controversy will stir up if India faces a void of their No. 3.
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