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Cricket PlayersKris Srikkanth's bold 'Dravid ka soch nehi chaiye' reaction on ex-India cricketer's Iyer over Hooda T20I selection logic
A furious Srikkanth felt that India should have gone ahead with Deepak Hooda over Shreyas Iyer in the playing XI, and hence came up with a bold Rahul Dravid reply when the selection was defended by a former India cricketer.
Former India captain and ex-chairman of selection committee, Krishnamachari Srikkanth was left furious over team's selection in the first T20I match of the five-game series against West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad. Srikkanth felt that India should have gone ahead with Deepak Hooda over Shreyas Iyer in the playing XI, and hence came up with a bold Rahul Dravid reply when the selection was defended by former India cricketer Pragyan Ojha.
The team saw the return of captain Rohit Sharma along with seven other players in the T20I line-up, all of whom were rested for the three-match ODI series where the Shikhar Dhawan-led side had scripted a 3-0 whitewash.
After losing the toss, Rohit announced that Iyer would bat at No.3 for India as against Hooda, who Srikkanth pointed out, during his conversation with Fan Code, has been exceptional in his last few appearances in the both the white-ball formats for India.
“Where is Hooda? He did well in T20Is, He did well in ODIs as well. He is the guy who should be there. In T20 cricket you need to understand, that you need all-rounders. Batting all-rounders, bowling all-rounders, so more the all-rounders better for you," the India great had said before Ojha, who was part of the same panel, walked in to defend Dravid's selection process.
“Rahul bhai believes that if a player performed for you first then play him and back him. Then you go ahead with the other options,” said Ojha.
Srikkanth immediately stopped him midway through his explanation to say, “Rahul Dravid ka soch humko nehi chaiye. Aapka soch chaiye. Abhi chaiye. Abhi do.”
Ojha smiled and sided with Srikkanth's choice saying, “Hooda toh hona chaiye. Obviously Hooda.”
“Bas. Khatam,” replied the veteran India cricketer.
Iyer eventually suffered a four-ball duck in the match after India were put to bat first.
