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Cricket PlayersWhy Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma were not selected in India T20I squad for West Indies tour
Here's why Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma were not selected in India's T20I squad for the West Indies tour.
With Hardik Pandya as the unofficial captain post last year's World Cup, the transition for the Indian T20I side had already begun. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Mohammed Shami have not yet featured in a T20I since India's semi-final loss in Australia. The focus has been on building a team with specialist T20 players for next year's World Cup. And by handing maiden call-ups to proven T20 performers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma for the West Indies tour, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee has taken another giant step towards achieving that goal.
India's 15-man T20I squad for the five-match T20I series was largely on the expected lines. By now, it is quite clear that Rohit and Kohli have been gradually phased out from the T20Is. After Rahul Tripathi and Deepak Hooda didn't quite manage to grab their opportunities and had disappointing outings in IPL 2023, the chances of Jaiswal were always going to be high.
Why was Rinku Singh not selected in India squad for West Indies T20Is?
The tough choice was between Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh. Both perform largely similar roles for their respective franchises Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Kight Riders in the IPL and have dished out mind-boggling performances in the last season. With Axar Patel and captain Hardik Pandya already there to do the finisher's job, the selectors went with Tilak Varma for his ability to score runs in the top four.
One may argue that Sanju Samson could have easily batted at No.3 followed by Suryakumar Yadav at four and Hardik Pandya at five, which leaves the No.6 spot vacant, ideal for someone like Rinku Singh to come in and work his magic. But to say that Tilak won't be able to do the same job would be an injustice to the youngster. Having said that, Rinku is just about there from receiving his due.
According to a PTI report, it is understood that with only a week's gap between the West Indies series and Ireland T20Is, there is a high possibility that Rinku might feature in that squad. Also, the BCCI will have to take a call on India's participation in the Asian Games. There are reports that the board might send a second-string squad in China which might give another opportunity to someone like Rinku.
Why was Ruturaj Gaikwad not selected in India's T20I squad for West Indies tour?
The bigger surprise was the omission of Ruturaj Gaikwad from the T20I squad. The Maharashtra right-hander has been of the T20 set-up for the last couple of years and was the second-highest run-scorer for IPL 2023 champions Chennai Super Kings. There could be two possible reasons behind this. Firstly, once the selectors decided to pick Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan as the openers, there was no space for a fourth opener in the squad. The second reason is quite similar to that of Rinku. Ruturaj is a part of the Test and ODI squads in the West Indies which means he may well be considered for the Ireland tour and also the Asian Games.
How did Jitesh Sharma miss out without making his India debut?
Another cricketer unlucky to miss out was Vidarbha's Jitesh Sharma. He was a part of the India T20I squad for the Sri Lanka and New Zealand home series but did not get to play a game. He has been in stellar form for the Punjab Kings in the last two IPL seasons. As a wicketkeeper and finisher, Jitesh is the ideal package that India need in T20Is then why was he dropped for the West Indies series? The answer is quite simple, Jitesh got an India call-up as Sanju Samson was injured. Once Samson was fit, there was no way the selectors were gonna pick him ahead of the Rajasthan Royals captain, especially with Ishan Kishan already there as a backup keeper.
