Former India opener Virender Sehwag has expressed displeasure over Team India’s selection policy. Sehwag opined that Indian management seems to have different parameters for certain players. He referred to India’s decision to leave out wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal in the first ODI against England on Tuesday.
The Virat Kohli-led side included two debutants – Prasidh Krishna and Krunal Pandya – in the match. At the same time, for the specialist spin bowler, chinaman Kuldeep Yadav was picked in the team. This did not allow Chahal to feature in the playing XI.
While speaking on Cricbuzz, Sehwag reckoned that there might be a difference in the selection standards between batters and bowlers. The cricketer-turned-commentator said India gave KL Rahul enough chances despite him not performing well in the recently concluded T20I series, but when it comes to bowlers, no such criteria was followed.
“You snub bowlers after one game, but you gave 4 matches to KL Rahul then sat him out in the 5th game. So, if you give bowlers only that many chances, they will have poor performances,” said Sehwag.
Sehwag cited Jasprit Bumrah‘s example, stating if Bumrah had few poor outings, the management would not have dropped him.
“If this was [Jasprit] Bumrah and he had 4 moderate outings, will you have thought to exclude Bumrah as well? No, you would have said, ‘he’s a good bowler, he will make a comeback,” added the 42-year-old.
Sehwag further slammed the Indian team’s selection, saying Chahal is the top-quality T20 bowler who gives wickets at crucial times. Sehwag said that if Rahul gets his team’s backing because he is a top-ranked batsman for India, the similar principle should be followed for Yuzi.
“Yuzvendra Chahal is your top T20 bowler, he gives you wickets, and he got 2-3 bad games and now is out of the team. One is a top bowler in ICC rankings, and the other is the top batter, so why the difference in selection criteria between them? I don’t understand this concept,” Sehwag added further.
