After winning the T20 World Cup 2024 title in the West Indies last month and getting the better of Zimbabwe by a margin of 4-1 in July, the Indian men’s cricket team will travel to Sri Lanka next week to take on the hosts in a three-match T20I series. During the two-week-long tour, India will also face the Islanders in three ODIs. The BCCI took to X on Thursday (July 18) to announce India’s 15-member squad for the upcoming bilateral assignment and appointed Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20I captain.
The former No. 1 T20I batter was preferred over Hardik Pandya as Rohit Sharma’s replacement for the top job after he announced his retirement from T20Is last month. In the team picked for the away series, selectors have made some shocking decisions. While as many as nine players from India’s T20 World Cup-winning team returned to the squad, there was no place for Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, or Mukesh Kumar in the side.
The trio was among the top performers for India in the recently concluded series against Zimbabwe. In addition to them, the star-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal was not picked either. The decision to snub Kuldeep, who dismissed 10 batters in five T20 World Cup matches for India, came as a surprise to former India batter Aakash Chopra, who, in a video on his YouTube channel, said he has no idea why the star cricketer is only picked for the ODIs and not in the T20I team.
“Kuldeep Yadav’s name is not there in T20 cricket. It’s very surprising because the guy has come just now after winning the World Cup, but his name is not there in T20 cricket. Has something happened that we don’t know about? He is going with the ODI setup. I have no idea why he isn’t playing T20Is,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
He also questioned Ravindra Jadeja’s absence from the ODI team picked for the three-match series under Rohit Sharma’s leadership in August.
“Yuzi Chahal also comes to mind. You were just now part of the World Cup. After that, you are nowhere. Ravindra Jadeja is also not part of ODI cricket. What’s happening there? He has himself retired from T20Is but would have been available in ODIs. If he is available and is not being played despite that, has Team India started looking in some other direction?” he added.
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