MUMBAI: First things first. Was this the last meeting of the present national selection committee? This speculation is bound to trigger as even though the BCCI informed the media that chief selector Chetan Sharma would address a virtual press conference (he’s in Australia with Team India for the T20 World Cup) on Monday to announce the Indian squads for the upcoming tour of New Zealand, the ex-India pacer actually went on to announce the outfits for the Bangladesh tour as well, even though that tour, comprising three ODIs and two Tests, is still 34 days away, with the first ODI in Mirpur on December 4.
In a press conference which saw him name as many as four Indian teams, India’s chief selector Chetan Sharma announced that Indian captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and the struggling KL Rahul have all been given a break from the limited overs tour of New Zealand, which will kick off on November 18-just five days after the T20 World Cup final. All three will return for the Bangladesh tour.
Hardik Pandya will lead India in the T20I series Down Under, while Shikhar Dhawan will captain the side in the ODI leg-with each series comprising three matches. Madhya Pradesh pacer Kuldeep Sen, who has been picked for the ODIs against New Zealand, and Uttar Pradesh left-arm seamer Yash Dayal, who was named in the ODIs for the Bangladesh tour, received their maiden India call-ups.
In a vote of confidence in his abilities, the selectors named dashing ‘keeper-bat Rishabh Pant as the vice-captain for both the sides in New Zealand, even though Pant has failed to even find a berth in the XI in the T20 World Cup so far.
Though Sharma denied it, the doors for India’s T20I team seemed to have been closed for Dinesh Karthik, who has endured an ordinary tournament so far, and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, even though Sharma cited “workload management” as a reason for Karthik’s exclusion.
‘Keeper-bat Sanju Samson and fiery pacer Umran Malik have been included in both the squads for the NZ tour.
Sharma asserted that opener KL Rahul, who is enduring a lean run in the T20 World Cup, has been ‘rested’ for the New Zealand tour. "KL Rahul is an important Test player for us, so we've rested him in the limited overs series against New Zealand," he said.
Jadeja back for Bangladesh tourIn some good news for the Indian team, star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who missed the T20 World Cup due to a knee injury, will make a comeback (“subject to fitness,” Sharma cautioned) for the Bangladesh tour in December, where he is a part of both the ODI and Test squads. Sharma revealed that his committee named an extended squad of 17 for the Bangladesh ODIs considering that the New Zealand tour will end on November 30 and the Bangladesh series starts on December 4, allowing for a very small window for travel and rest for the players.
Sarfaraz fails to find spot for Bangla TestsCiting a “packed middle order,” the selectors have dropped Hanuma Vihari from the Test team for Bangladesh, while for some curious, unfathomable reason, the highly consistent Sarfaraz Khan, who has slammed close to 2,000 runs in the Ranji Trophy in the past couple of seasons-982 runs in six games@122.75 with 4 centuries and 2 fifties, has been snubbed.
Having slammed hundreds in the Ranji Trophy final, Irani Cup and the Duleep Trophy in the past few months, the prolific Mumbaikar can consider himself extremely unlucky to have missed the bus for the Bangladesh tour. In 29 First-Class games, Sarfaraz has scored 2928 runs@81.33, with 10 hundreds and 8 fifties.
“Sarfaraz is a brilliant player but we don't have a space now (in the middle-order)- he is a serious contender and he will definitely get a chance very soon," Sharma justified. "Sarfaraz is being followed and we have given him opportunities in India A. I have spoken to him and he's not that far away. Sometimes people need to do more to replace current players and he was discussed for a brief period," he added.
Another Mumbai batsman who was in the reckoning but failed to find a spot in any of the three white ball squads despite some impactful knocks in domestic cricket recently is swashbuckling opener Prithvi Shaw. "Prithvi will get a chance in the Indian team soon," Sharma said. In another strange decision, impressive young leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi too has been ignored from the New Zealand T20Is, with Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav making yet another comeback. For some reason, Shubman Gill isn’t there in the Bangladesh ODI series.
‘We hurried Bumrah as WC was coming’Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the T20 World Cup due to a back injury, was missing from all the four squads, with Sharma making it clear that they didn’t want to rush India’s premier fast bowler into action-a mistake that he admitted his panel made while trying to “hurry” him for the big tournament. “Definitely, I say it every time that we have to manage the players and when we do that, the media ends up writing about how different players are playing in the lineup with different captains. We have to manage the workload. We hurried up with Bumrah a bit, we tried as the World Cup was coming and see what happened. We are without Bumrah for this World Cup. So, we want to be patient now," said Sharma.," said Sharma. Bumrah, he informed, is in line to return for the crucial home Test series against Australia.
"The NCA and the medical team are looking after him very well and he definitely will be a part of the team very soon. For the Bangladesh series, we are just a little cautious, we are not hurrying him up. I request the media to understand that there is a reason behind resting players. No selector is fond of changing the teams and captains. But there is so much cricket, we have to keep looking after the bodies of our players. Bumrah will be back soon, NCA is working alongside him," he added.
Rajat Patidar and Rahul Tripathi have been included in the ODI series against BangladeshIndia play three T20Is and three ODIs in New Zealand from November 18. The T20Is will be played in Wellington (November 18), Mount Maunganui (November 20) and Napier (November 22), while the ODIs will be in Auckland (November 25), Hamilton (November 27) and Christchurch (November 30). The ODIs against Bangladesh will be played on December 4, 7 & 10 in Mirpur, while the Tests will be held from December 14-18 at Chattogram, and December 22-26 at Mirpur.