The India A stars not chosen for senior team in Windies tour

A few days back, BCCI announced the squads for India’s Twenty20 and One-day internationals against West Indies which will take place from August 3 to September 3 2019 in Caribbean Islands and the US.

The team saw the exclusion of some big names such as Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, who are being rested, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who made himself “unavailable”. Following the 2019 World Cup loss in semi-finals, several new faces were included in the team, with a view to build a strong team for the 2023 World Cup.

Nine players from the India A team were selected for the squad, including Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey and the Chahar cousins. Wriddhiman Saha is ready to make his comeback in the test team.

However, BCCI gave a miss to other India A players who, with their star performances, helped beat West Indies A 4-1. Disgruntled fans took to Twitter to question BCCI’s decision to leave out these players, who will have to wait longer to make their international debut.

Shubman Gill

Named ‘Player of the Series’ in the unofficial one-dayer between India A and West Indies A, Shubman Gill had put up a classic show of his talent, showing no fear to play big shots.

The Kolkata Knight Riders’ player came into limelight after scoring 418 runs at an average of 104.50 in the 2018 ICC U19 World Cup, where he batted at a crucial No. 3 and helped the team clinch their record fourth world title.

Despite finishing as the highest run-scorer with 218 runs at an average of 54.50 in the recently concluded series, the Punjab hitman wasn’t the probable number 4 for the senior team.

Chief Selector MSK Prasad during the announcement said, “KL Rahul was suspended during New Zealand series so that’s why Shubman Gill was given chance in that series. Since KL Rahul is back in the Indian squad, Shubman Gill has to wait. He will be considered in the future.”

During an interview with CricketNext, Shubhman Gill mentioned that he was disappointed at not having been selected for the senior team.

“I was waiting for the Indian senior team to be announced on Sunday and I expected to be selected at least for one of the squads. It was disappointing not to get picked but I am not going to spend time thinking over it. I’ll keep scoring runs and performing to the best of my ability to impress the selectors,” Gill said.

Ruturaj Gaikwad

The right-handed opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad was the show-stopper in India A’s final win over West Indies A in an unofficial ODI series. The Chennai Super Kings batter was named the ‘Player of the Match’ after his 99-run knock off 89 balls. His total score in the five ODIs was 207 at an average of 51.75, the second highest in the series.

With settled players like Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan on board, it is unlikely that Gaikwad will find a place in the senior team any time soon. However, the 22-year-old has shown potential to become a sound limited-overs player in the long term.

Ishan Kishan

Ishan Kishan is a wicketkeeper-batsman who has shown a lot of promise. The Gujarat Lions and Mumbai Indians youngster has career statistics of 695 runs off 37 IPL matches at an average of 21.06 and a strike rate of 130.89. His 21-ball 62 against spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the 2018 IPL, put him in much demand.

His career best 273 against Delhi is the highest score till date by a Jharkhand batsman in Ranji trophy. However, with Rishabh Pant replacing the good old MS Dhoni already, Kishan’s chances look bleak. That is unless the selectors go in for more than one keeper-batsman, as they did in the World Cup with Dhoni, Pant and Dinesh Karthik.

Avesh Khan

Seamer Avesh Khan has been consistent with the new ball, being able to generate extra bounce off good lengths at speeds of 140 kmph and come up with a variety of variations. The Delhi Daredevils player is trying to specialise off-cutters, leg-cutters and slower balls. He became India’s highest wicket-taker with 12 wickets at an average of 15.08 in 2016 ICC U19 World Cup.

Filled with raw talent, Avesh picked up 4 wickets in 2 matches against West Indies A. He was also one of the net bowlers in India’s recent test series against South Africa, which means that he has what the team requires but will have to wait longer for his turn.

Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly too tweeted expressing his disappointment of not seeing Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane in the squad. He wrote, “There are many in the squad who can play all formats ..surprised not to see Shubman gill ..Rahane in the one day squad..”

There are many in the squad who can play all formats ..surprised not to see shubman gill ..Rahane in the one day squad..

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 24, 2019

“Time has come for Indian selectors to pick same players in all formats of the game for rhythm and confidence.. too few are playing in all formats ..great teams had consistent players ..it`s not about making all happy but picking the best for the country and be consistent..@bcci,” he further tweeted.

Time has come for indian selectors to pick same players in all formats of the game for rhythm and confidence.. too few are playing in all formats ..great teams had consistent players ..it’s not about making all happy but picking the best for the country and be consistent..@bcci

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 24, 2019