An ex-player for India, Gautam Gambhir, questions India’s baffling selection call

Many experts were surprised by some of the choices that India made against South Africa for the second T20I.

The Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian cricket team’s tour of South Africa has begun on a poor note. After the first T20I against South Africa was washed out, the side lost the rain-affected second T20I by five wickets. However, some of the choices that India made against South Africa for the second T20I surprised experts.

“Any surprises?” the anchor asked after the playing XIs were announced ahead of the second T20I between India and South Africa on Wednesday. While Ruturaj Gaikwad, centurion against Australia in the last T20I series that India played, was not picked due to illness, the Indian team management went with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja as spinners, while Tilak Verma got the nod in the middle-order.

Piyush Chawla replied, “The way Ravi Bishnoi performed in the previous series, he should have played. He’s recently topped the ICC rankings, and hence, he would definitely be disappointed.”

Then the anchor told Gautam Gambhir that even Shreyas Iyer was not picked, but Tilak Verma was.

Gautam Gambhir said, “I don’t know what could be the reason behind not picking Shreyas Iyer because he just scored a half-century in the last game against Australia in Bengaluru. Now what could the reason be? Whether they are looking at left-handers or Iyer has a niggle, only team management can answer it. But yeah, like PC said, if the world No. 1-ranked T20I bowler is not in your playing XI and this is not your main team, you are giving youngsters chances here. Only Suryakumar Yadav and the team management can provide some clarity.”