A young Indian team has been selected under the new chief selector Ajit Agarkar for the T20 series of the West Indies tour. The face of the future team has been cleared to some extent by the selected team. Under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar has been given the responsibility of vice-captain. Some new faces like Mukesh Kumar, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Verma have also been included in the squad.
Once again Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been kept out of the team. Both of them played the last T20 match for India in the ICC World T20 World Cup. After this, this is the fourth consecutive series when both of them have been kept out of the team. There were reports that a young team would be selected under the captaincy of Hardik Pandya, leaving out veterans. The selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar is taking steps in this direction. Apart from these, fast bowler Mohammed Shami has been rested for the entire West Indies tour.
Many people were surprised about the selection of this team and also unhappy with the unilateral decision of BCCI. There was also a time when the news of team selection was first given to the media. There were questions and answers before selection and even after selection, then it was told which player was rested, who was dropped, and which player was discussed. If some youths were not included, then the reason was told. The BCCI no longer gives any detailed information regarding team selection and no press conferences are held where direct questions can be asked. Due to this attitude of BCCI, there is a lot of confusion among the people. People do not understand after all, on what scale the team has been selected keeping in mind. Which player has been selected on which lines, whether any name was discussed or not?
Rohit and Kohli’s T20 career over?
Team India’s regular captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli last played in the T20 World Cup played in 2022. After this, both of them were not made a part of any T20 series. Nor was there any discussion of their name. It is never mentioned whether they have been rested from the team or whether they have made up their mind to end the careers of Kohli and Rohit by thinking about the future. If we talk about the bowlers, the BCCI has never given any response regarding Mohammad Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. There are hardly any updates about the current status and fitness of injured players.
Why didn’t Rinku Singh get a chance?
In the team selected by Ajit Agarkar’s team selection committee, top order was given more importance and there are about 6 top order batsmen in it. There is a lack of a finisher in the team, for which it seemed that Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma, who finished amazingly in the last two seasons, could be given a chance. In this, most expectations were being raised regarding the selection of Rinku Singh, who had an amazing finish in the IPL. Rinku’s performance this season was explosive, playing for Kolkata Knight Riders, the left-handed batsman scored 474 runs at an average of 59.25 and a strike rate of 149.53. Not only this, no one can forget that match against Gujarat, in which this finisher won the lost match to Kolkata by hitting five consecutive sixes in five balls in Yash Dayal’s last over.
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Chennai Super Kings opener Rituraj Gaikwad was also hoping to make a comeback in Team India and had high hopes for this tour. In IPL 2023, the right-handed batsman scored 590 runs at an average of 42.14.
Gaikwad had a big contribution in making Chennai the champion for the fifth time but he is yet to get the reward for it. Apart from Rinku and Gaikwad, Gujarat Titans finisher Rahul Tewatia, Mumbai Indians pacer Akash Madhwal, who has made a name for himself as a death over specialist, Dhruv Jurel and aggressive wicket-keeper batsman Jitesh Sharma were also being looked into. But for now, they will have to wait longer.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Verma called for the first time in India’s T20 team
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Verma, who have been outstanding this season in the IPL, have been selected for the five-match T20I series against the West Indies, starting on 3 August. Both the left-handed batsmen specialize in scoring runs quickly. Both have been selected for the first time in the T20 team.
India T20 squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Verma, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Akshar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
How long will BCCI’s one-way communication last?
There is no doubt that only limited players get a chance in the team, in which there are many challenges in front of the selectors. But if you remember, there used to be a tradition in Indian cricket till some time back and after the team selection for any tour or series, there used to be a press conference by the chief selector or BCCI official. Due to this, all the information was known in detail, the future picture and the target were known, even it was also known that the names of which players were discussed as to why they did not get the chance at the moment. But now there is no press conference from the BCCI side nor information is given in the press release. The result of this one-sided communication of BCCI is that the player’s morale also gets battered, as well as cricket lovers also have to dive into the river of speculation.
