The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced four different squads on Monday for India’s upcoming tours of New Zealand and Bangladesh. While the appointment of Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan as India’s captains for the T20I and ODI series against New Zealand respectively in the absence of Rohit Sharma and other senior players grabbed some attention, the biggest talking points were the continued absence of Prithvi Shaw from white-ball formats, exclusion of Hanuma Vihari from the Test squad for Bangladesh and lack of Test call-up to Sarfaraz Khan despite scoring handsomely in domestic cricket recently.
Prithvi Shaw has been in blistering form in domestic cricket. He scored 355 runs in six matches in Ranji Trophy and amassed 285 runs at 47.50 and at a strike rate of 191.27 in seven matches in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
With Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul not picked for T20Is and ODIs against New Zealand, there was a chance for Shaw to get back into the side, but Shikhar Dhawan (only ODIs), Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan (only T20Is) have been picked as the openers.
Explaining Shaw’s baffling exclusion, the All-India Senior Selection Committee head Chetan Sharma said his committee first wants to give chances to the players who are already in the set-up.
“We basically are looking at him, and we are in constant touch with him, he’s doing well. There is nothing wrong with him at all. The thing is we have to look at the set-up, we are trying to give chances to those who are performing and are already in the set-up. He will definitely get his chances very soon the way he is batting, even whenever we are there for matches we are talking to him,” former India cricketer said.
Also read: Shaw, Umesh Yadav and others share cryptic post after being ignored
Sarfaraz Khan is another player who was expected to be picked for Tests against Bangladesh but missed out. The Mumbai batter scored 982 runs including four hundreds in six matches of the Ranji Trophy last season. He was the highest-run getter in the tournament as well.
Explaining the reasons for Sarfaraz not getting picked, the chief selector said: “We are giving him opportunities wherever possible. We recently gave him a chance with India A. He is a brilliant player and we are in touch with him but there should be vacant spots in the team. He is a brilliant player, he knows it too and the selectors are also in touch with him.
“He is not that far away. I have spoken to him often. Sometimes, you have to work harder to be included in the team because there are already players for that spot. Otherwise, Sarfaraz has done his job and he is a serious contender and he will definitely get a chance very soon.”
Also read: Twitterati fumes at selectors after Shaw gets ignored
Another player who became a victim of a lack of “vacant spots” in the Test side is Hanuma Vihari. Selector Sharma said Vihari is in the “scheme of things” even if he is not in the squad.
“We discussed about him quite a bit. Our middle order is packed, you spoke about Pujara and there are the likes of (Virat) Kohli, (Shubman) Gill, (Shreyas) Iyer are there. Some players miss out but it doesn’t mean that they are not in the scheme of things. Right now, we are figuring out based on combinations who would be best suited for the XI for playing in Bangladesh. He was part of the side and he will be part of the squad again, soon,” Sharma said.
One more interesting exclusion is that of Dinesh Karthik who is part of India’s squad for the ongoing T20 World Cup but won’t play in T20Is against New Zealand.
Is it the end of the road for Karthik? Selectors have a different opinion.
“It is not like that [the selectors are looking for other finishers]. The World Cup is going on and this is more about load management. We are focusing on who to rest and who to play. And the way he came to our side and the way he performed, he is always available to selectors but in the T20I games immediately after the World Cup, we are looking to try a different set of players. Otherwise, the doors are open for him and he’s a brilliant player,” Sharma added.
India squads
T20I squad for New Zealand tour: Hardik Pandya (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Umran Malik, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
ODI squad for New Zealand tour: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Deepak Chahar, Kuldeep Sen, Umran Malik.
ODI squad for Bangladesh tour: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Rajat Patidar, Rahul Tripathi, Ravindra Jadeja (subject to fitness), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant.
Test squad for Bangladesh tour: Rohit Sharma (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur
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