The Men in Blue are slated to play a white-ball series against the Islander comprising three T20Is and as many ODIs, starting from July 27.
Indian selection chief Ajit Agarkar and new coach Gautam Gambhir held a press conference today ahead of the upcoming India tour of Sri Lanka.
The Men in Blue are slated to play a white-ball series against the Islanders comprising three T20Is and as many ODIs, starting from July 27.
Interestingly, two promising youngsters were omitted from the squads that were recently announced and have stirred quite a debate.
Addressing those concerns, the former India speedster assured that the selection process is fair.
Ajit Agarkar then went on to cite the example of dynamic middle-order batter Rinku Singh to justify the exclusion of talented batters Abhishek Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Rinku Singh was snubber from India’s 15-man squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 last month, despite his consistent performances for the national team. Agarkar explained that the squad can only include 15 players, making it challenging to include everyone who is performing well.
Agarkar was quoted as saying in the press conference, “Any player who is dropped will feel hard done by. Look at Rinku, he performed really well ahead of the T20 World Cup, but couldn’t make the cut. We can only pick 15.”
Both Ruturaj and Abhishek were part of the recently-concluded tour of Zimbabwe which India dominated 4-1.
Ruturaj had a good campaign, finishing as the fourth-highest run-getter for India in the five-match T20I series. In his last three innings, Ruturaj scored 133 runs, averaging 66.50 with a strike rate of 158.33.
Additionally, the right-hander has maintained an average of over 70 in his last seven T20I innings, with one century and two half-centuries to his credit.
On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma made his international debut during the tour. Although he registered a four-ball duck in his first game, the stylish left-hander then slammed his maiden international ton in the very next game.
He also contributed with a couple of wickets in the series.
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