Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar has raised questions on Team India’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand. On Wednesday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 16-man squad led by Rohit Sharma with a few notable exclusions.
While senior batter Virat Kohli, frontline pacer Jasprit Bumrah, fast bowler Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja were rested from the T20I series, the likes of Hardik Pandya, Varun Chakravarthy, Rahul Chahar and Shardul Thakur were dropped from the squad despite having been a part of the T20 World Cup in the UAE.
Gavaskar questioned the exclusion of both Chahar and Chakravarthy from Indian outfit for the New Zealand series, starting from November 17.
Gavaskar said Chahar didn’t get many opportunities since he only played one game and must be wondering what he did wrong to get ignored.
Notably, Chahar only played one game for India in the multi-team tournament against Namibia, where he conceded 30 runs in his quota of 4 overs.
“Rahul Chahar will be wondering what he has done that he is not in the 16 that have been announced for the New Zealand series. He was good enough to be in the World Cup squad, he got one opportunity, gave away 7 and a half runs an over. He will certainly be wondering what he did wrong. And I hope the selection committee will actually tell him what he did is the reason that he is out of the squad,” Gavaskar told India Today.
The cricketer-turned-commentator spoke about Chakravarthy, who played three games in T20 World Cup 2021 and still wasn’t picked for the three-match leg against the Black Caps. Gavaskar said the Tamil Nadu spinner must be told the reason for his exclusion unless he has been sidelined due to fitness concerns.
“Even Varun Chakravarthy needs to be told why he was not picked in the squad. Unless, of course, he is not fit, which we don’t know about, then he must be told. Only if somebody tells them the reason they can go back and get better and then come back stronger. That will be the only way Indian cricket will get stronger,” Gavaskar added.
