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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday, October 25 announced 18-member squad for the highly-anticipated Boarder-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, set to kick start from November 22 in Perth. While the squad announcement saw some surprise inclusions, Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav were one of the shocking exclusions, both of whom continue to recover from their respective injuries.
Apart from them, star Indian youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad continued to miss out with Abhimanyu Easwaran getting a place based on his performances at the domestic level recently. Not only this, Ruturaj Gaikwad also missed a place for the T20I series against South Africa, getting into the attention of former Indian cricketers.
Kris Srikkanth lashes out at Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee over Gaikwad’s omission
With Ruturaj Gaikwad continuing to be devoid of a place in the national team despite consistent performances, former Indian cricketer, Krisnamachari Srikkanth while speaking on his YouTube channel lost his cool and went on to rant, targeting the Indian men’s selection committee. The Indian cricket great was left baffled by the treatment Ruturaj Gaikwad is receiving despite consistent performances in domestic tournaments.
"I don't understand it at all. When they say that Mayank Yadav bowled for a few overs and now he has also become unfit like Shivam Dube and Riyan Parag. See, for Ruturaj, I don't understand at all. Poor fellow! What will he do? If he scores a century, then they can take him back into the T20I squad, right? He scored two first-class centuries but still didn't get a chance. He got scores to back him up. Where should that guy be going now?” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Although, Srikkanth did not speak against Easwaran’s inclusion, but instead questioned the reason behind overlooking Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led Team India to a gold medal win at the Asian Games 2023. "Abhimanyu Easwaran's performance has been brilliant. I'm not questioning that. But what are you doing with Ruturaj? Why aren't they twirling around with him? What's the plan? Let them do what they want with him. Just look at the mindset of that kid and tell me what he should be doing in this match against you guys. He keeps on hitting the opponents all day long, but then, when it comes to international cricket, you leave him behind. And when they give him a chance, it's for the Rest of India or India A," he further added.
It is to be noted that Gaikwad did not feature in the main squad for the five-match Test series against Australia, but was named the captain of the India A side for the upcoming tour.
India A squad for the tour of Australia
Ruturaj Gaikwad (C), Abhimanyu Easwaran (VC), Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, Baba Indrajith, Ishan Kishan (WK), Abishek Porel (WK), Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal, Navdeep Saini, Manav Suthar, Tanush Kotian
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
