“Shubman Gill doesn’t deserve a spot in T20I team”- Ex-India skipper slams selectors for ignoring Ruturaj Gaikwad

Team India’s T20I and ODI squads for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka were announced by the BCCI on Thursday (July 18). India are scheduled to visit Sri Lanka later this month for three T20Is and as many ODIs.

All eyes were on the selectors as they finalized the squad for a tour that will kickstart a new journey for Team India. The upcoming series will be India’s first assignment under newly-appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir. India also have a new T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav.

And the selectors have sprung several big surprises in both the squads. In the T20I squads, their decision to leave out Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma has raised several eyebrows. Both the batters had impressive outings in this year’s IPL and recently did well in Zimbabwe as well.

However, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel and the new team management decided against retaining them in the T20I squad. Talking about Gaikwad, he was the second-highest run-scorer in this year’s IPL. Leading Chennai Super Kings, the right-handed batsman had scored 583 runs with the help of a century and 4 half-centuries.

In Zimbabwe, Gaikwad scored 133 runs in 3 innings, including knocks of 49* and 77. However, the effort is seemingly not enough to become a regular in India’s T20I team. The decision from the selectors has made it pretty clear that Gaikwad remains a fringe player and would get a chance only in India’s second-string teams.

Ex-India captain slams selectors:

With Ruturaj Gaikwad losing his place in the T20I team, former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth has slammed the decision. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, the former India batsman and his son and former Tamil Nadu cricketer Srikkanth Anirudha spoke on the recently-appointed India squads.

During the same interaction, Krishnamachari Srikkanth did not mince any words as he expressed his disappointment over Gaikwad being snubbed again.

The India great said that Shubman Gill should not be in India’s T20I team and also criticised the selectors for appointing him as the vice-captain in both the white-ball formats. He also said that Gaikwad is an automatic choice in the T20I team.