‘10 steps back’: Fans furious post India’s T20 World Cup squad announcement by BCCI
India T20 World Cup squad: Several key players have not made it to the 15-man squad
Indian cricket fans were furious after the BCCI selection committee headed by Ajit Agarkar announced the 15-member T20 World Cup squad on Tuesday (Apr 30) evening. The exclusion of Rinku Singh from the squad invited the wrath of the fans who questioned if performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was the only criterion for player selection.
Ever since making his debut for the Indian team in the T20 format, Rinku has been one of the most consistent batters.In his short 15-match T20I career so far, Singh has scored 356 runs at an average of 89 and strike rate of 176.24- a stat combination that not many modern batters can boast of, especially in the Indian squad.
The southpaw has been dropped after getting limited batting opportunities with Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the ongoing IPL.
Apart from Rinku's exclusion, fans were not happy with Yuzvendra Chahal being rushed back into the squad, especially owing to his known struggles on the international circuit. Ravi Bishnoi was being touted as the other wrist-spinner to partner Kuldeep Yadav on the world stage but the selectors went back to the conservative choice.
Similar was the case with Shubman Gill who had to contend with a spot in the reserves as both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma got the nod to play, what could arguably be their last ICC tournament.
Here are some of the reactions from fans and pundits over the squad selection:
India squad:
Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj
Reserves:Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan