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'What has he done in ODIs? Why did you take him to Bangladesh?': Ex-selector wants new panel to decide on 'core'
Patidar earned his maiden call-up for the Bangladesh tour while Tripathi, who was a part of the T20I side in Ireland, also found his name in the ODI side for the first time. Karim questioned Tripathi's selection calling him a T20I specialist.
The irregularities in India's selection for the last year or so have been one of the major talking points every time the team hasn't done well. The absence of Shubman Gill and Sanju Samson from India's ODI squad for the Bangladesh series despite doing well in the format for the last few months bemused almost every former India cricketer and fan. Former India wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim was surprised by Gill and Samson's exclusion but what surprised him more was the selection of Rajat Patidar and Rahul Tripathi for the three-match series.
Patidar earned his maiden call-up for the tour while Tripathi, who was a part of the T20I side in Ireland, also found his name in the ODI side for the first time. Karim questioned Tripathi's selection calling him a T20I specialist.
“Why have you taken Rajat Patidar and Rahul Tripathi to Bangladesh? What has Tripathi done in ODIs? He is a T20 specialist, but you have picked him in the one-day team. I don’t think he will play. The new selection committee and management must first decide the core team," Karim told India News.
Tripathi has been one of the most consistent performers in the IPL for various teams like the Rising Pune Super Giant, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and now Sunrisers Hyderabad but his List A numbers are not eye-catching. In 53 matches for Maharashtra, he has 1782 runs at an average of 37.
At least one among Tripathi and Patidar is likely to make his ODI debut in the inconsequential third and final ODI against Bangladesh on Saturday as regular captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Deepak Chahar have been ruled out with injuries.
India are missing a number of their key players either due to injuries or because of workload management. Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Shami are not in Bangladesh due to injuries while Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been given a breather.
The likes of Rohit, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul did not travel to New Zealand where Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya led India's ODI and T20I sides.
Former India all-rounder Reetinder Singh Sodhi said it's time India do away with the trend of giving frequent breaks to their top players.
“Hardik Pandya was in great form. But after returning from a break, he struggled a bit with the bat and ball as well. After the IPL heroics, he also got to captain India, but Hardik Pandya’s graph has come down a bit since then. Players like Hardik have to play. This trend of taking breaks has to end,” he said.
Having already lost the series, India will look to end the series on a high by beating the hosts in the final ODI on Saturday.
