The Indian Squad for the West Indies tour was announced on Sunday, 21 July, after much deliberation by the selection committee in the presence of Indian skipper Virat Kohli in Mumbai. Chairman of Selectors MSK Prasad spoke on a host of topics as he announced the ODI, T20I and Test squads.
MSK Dhoni’s future, the grooming of Rishabh Pant, Ambati Rayudu’s sudden retirement, and India’s roadmap for the future were some of the points he spoke on extensively, among many others.
Meanwhile, players like Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested for the limited-overs series. While some new faces have been added in the squad, there are some key names missing from the squad as well.
Here are 5 players missing from the Indian limited-overs squad which is set to travel to the Caribbean.
Mayank Agarwal
The non-selection of Mayank Agarwal in the limited-overs side has become one of the talking points after the announcement of the Indian squad for the series against West Indies.
He was roped in the Indian World Cup squad as a backup opener for KL Rahul when the latter injured his back while attempting a catch against England. However, despite his addition in the squad, he was not given a single game in the World Cup.
Since he was a part of the Indian World Cup squad, his exclusion now from the limited-overs squad puts forward the question of how long a deserving player will have to wait for his chance.
Mayank is a hefty run-scorer in the domestic circuit. He was the leading run-scorer in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, finishing the tournament with 1,160 runs. He had a memorable 2018 scoring 2141 runs in all formats the highest total by any batsman in an Indian domestic season.
Courtesy his exploits, he was included in the India’s Test squad for Australia tour after Prithvi Shaw injured himself even before the series started. He scored 51 in his Test debut and ended the series with 195 runs.
Axar Patel
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel was one of the cricketers who missed out on being selected on any of the Indian squads for the series. Patel played his last ODI almost more than 2 years ago and his last T20I for India more than 1.5 years ago. Since than he has been left out of the side and did not get a look in.
He was picked up by Delhi Capitals in IPL 2019, where he did not perform as per expected.110 runs with the bat and just 10 wickets with the ball, Patel, who was one of the key players for Delhi did no justice to his selection.
Picked in the India A squad for an unofficial ODI series against Windies A, Patel rediscovered his lost form. Four wickets in four games and an unbeaten 81 in the third unofficial ODI, the left-arm spinner found form just at the right time but was denied a place in the squad.
With Ravindra Jadeja back in the scheme of things in the shorter format and the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal maintaining their spot, Patel’s selection was always distant and far-fetched.
Shubman Gil
With the focus of the Indian team selection in the shorter format being giving a chance to the youngsters and preparing a squad for the future, Gill’s absence was a shocker.
The youngster, who is hailed by the Indian cricketing fraternity for his incredible talent, has scored 418 runs from seven matches in the Vijay Hazare trophy at an average almost touching 60.
In the ongoing India A – West Indies A series, Gill is at the top of the run charts with 149 runs in three innings including two scores in excess of 50.
Gill, also had a decent enough season with Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2019 scoring 296 runs batting both at the top and the middle-order.
Sanju Samson
Rajasthan Royals mentor Shane Warne predicted that Sanju Samson will be the next big thing in Indian cricket ahead of the start of IPL 2019. However, it seems this talented cricketer like Gill. Will have to wait for his opportunity.
342 runs in IPL 2019 with one century, Samson was the linchpin of the Rajasthan batting order despite names like Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler forming the core of the Royals batting force.
In the domestic circuit as well, Samson has been scoring heavily as well for Kerala. . He was the leading run-scorer for Kerala in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 627 runs in seven matches.
Shreyas Gopal
Gopal finished with 20 wickets in IPL 2019 which included the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. This was the season when the Karnataka spinner really came into his own. Apart from his exploits with the ball, his ability to play cameos with the bat lower down the order made him a useful recruit for Rajasthan.
51 wickets from 31 List A matches at an economy of under five makes his case a strong one for selection with the selectors focusing on giving a chance to youngsters. In the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka A, Gopal picked up five wickets from three games and looked effective against the Lankans.
However, with the Indian spin attack looking good with Chahal, Kuldeep and Jadeja making a formidable trio, Gopal was always facing a challenge from them.
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