3 players who were unlucky to miss out on India's T20I squad for the West Indies series
The BCCI has finally announced Team India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies, which will consist of five matches in August.
In an expected move, senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were left out of the side, with Hardik Pandya at the helm once again. Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj are other players who have presumably been rested, while Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul are still recovering from injuries.
India’s T20I squad for the West Indies series: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (vc), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
Apart from these players, there were a few names who were available for selection but didn't make the grade. Given the composition of the squad and the Men in Blue's strategies ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, it might have been in the selectors' best interests to include them.
Here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India's T20I squad for the West Indies series.
#3 Jitesh Sharma
India have picked two wicket-keepers for the T20I series against West Indies, Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. Jitesh Sharma, who has been in and around the side for a while now, has unfortunately missed out.
Why has Jitesh been left out without being given a meaningful run at the top level? The keeper-batter had a decent run in IPL 2023 with the Punjab Kings, attacking both pace and spin right from the outset. He offers a unique skillset and is also capable of playing the finisher's role.
With India short of both frontrunners to don the gloves as well as finishers, Jitesh would've been the ideal selection.
#2 Rinku Singh
Rinku Singh was left out of the India A squad for the Emerging Asia Cup 2023, and many thought it was because he'd be picked in the senior side for the West Indies tour. While that was true for Tilak Varma, his fellow southpaw didn't make the grade.
Rinku had an excellent IPL 2023 campaign for the Kolkata Knight Riders, notching up well over 400 runs and pulling several games out of the bag. The left-hander is one of the best finishing options in the country and is assured against pace, even though his spin game - especially early on in his innings - needs some work.
Rinku has an excellent domestic record as well and arguably should've been in the T20I side for the tour of the Caribbean.
#1 Ruturaj Gaikwad
This is a tough one. India have several opening options in the squad, including Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Kishan. So they don't really need Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has largely been used at the top of the order at the top levels.
However, picking Kishan ahead of Gaikwad might not have been the wisest move. Neither batter has a great T20I record, but the latter has proven to have a more well-rounded game and had a better IPL 2023 campaign.
Playing for the title-winning Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Gaikwad managed to play several high-impact knocks in the powerplay. Even though he went through a phase in the middle of the tournament where he couldn't convert his starts, he recovered well to essay meaningful innings in crunch games.