"These players have been dropped" - Saba Karim on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul's absence from India's T20I squad for Sri Lanka series
Saba Karim believes that certain senior players might have been dropped from India's T20I team, pointing out how they failed to make the cut for the home series against Sri Lanka.
The former keeper-batter, however, emphasized that this decision was taken by the old Chetan Sharma-led selection committee. He claimed that the new panel could recall one or two senior players in the future.
Karim also mentioned that the youngsters have a chance to cement their place in the side in the absence of senior members of the team. He highlighted how Shreyas Iyer has been able to do the same in Test matches since coming into the team in place of Ajinkya Rahane.
Speaking to India News Sports on Wednesday, December 28, Karim said:
"I believe that these players have been dropped from the T20 team. But this is the decision of the old selection committee. It is possible that the new committee might bring back two or three of these players.
"If you are dropping players of such a big stature, there will still be new guys who can take their places. Ajinkya Rahane was dropped from the Test team, and now we have Shreyas Iyer, who has done tremendously well."
Notably, all-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead Team India in their forthcoming three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. However, regular skipper Rohit Sharma is a part of the ODI squad, along with senior batters Kohli and Rahul.
"Should themselves be allowed to decide if they want to play or not" - Rajkumar Sharma on Team India's senior players
During the aforementioned conversation, Virat Kohli's childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma, stated that senior members of the team should not be dropped from the T20I squad in such a manner.
He also reckoned that those players should be allowed to take a call on their future. Sharma claimed that this isn't the right time to make such big changes, as there is a very positive environment in the current dressing room.
"The players are quite mature, and I don't think there is a need to give them a strong message," Sharma elaborated. "The dressing room environment is very good at the moment. The senior players should themselves be allowed to decide if they want to play or not, considering that they have contributed significantly to the success of Indian cricket."
The T20I series opener between India and Sri Lanka is scheduled to be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, January 3. The second and third fixtures will take place in Pune and Rajkot on January 5 and 7, respectively.