The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the India squad for the T20I series against West Indies on Wednesday, breaking quite a few fans' hearts. The likes of Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Jitesh Sharma couldn't find a place despite their prolific performances in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Even Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Nitish Rana seemed to be disappointed with the squad selection. Rana, who led KKR in the absence of Shreyas Iyer last season, took to Twitter and shared a cryptic post.
"Bad days build better days", read a post from Rana who has represented India in 1 ODI and 2 T20Is. However, he last wore the Indian shirt back in July 2021 against Sri Lanka.
Rinku Singh, whose finishing skills at Nos 5 or 6 for KKR in IPL have impressed one and all, didn't figure in the 15-member squad but it is understood that with only a week's gap between the West Indies series and Ireland T20Is, there is a high possibility that both Rinku and Vidarbha's Jitesh Sharma will make that team along with Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Jitesh, the glovesman, lost out as both Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson are ahead in the pecking order and will always have an advantage unless they fail to perform.
The two players who have made international comebacks are pacer Avesh Khan and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.
Bishnoi, who last played for India in the Asia Cup in September, will be playing first-class cricket for Gujarat this season.
The team has three wrist spinners with Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal also being part of the 15-member squad.
Axar Patel, who going by current form is a better T20 bet compared to Ravindra Jadeja, has been picked in the squad. In Jadeja's case though, unlike Rohit and Kohli, he has been rested.
In the pace department, Avesh has been cranking it up with the red ball for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy and in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, the pace department will be handled by Avesh and Umran Malik along with left-arm seamers from Arshdeep Singh.
With PTI inputs