3 players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the Sri Lanka series
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the squad for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka.
Captained by Shikhar Dhawan, the squad features several new faces like Devdutt Padikkal and Ruturaj Gaikwad as India attempt to give youngsters a chance ahead of a series of marquee tournaments in the coming years.
India's squad: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suryakumar Yadav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Ishan Kishan (Wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (Wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Rahul Chahar, K Gowtham, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Vice-captain), Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Chetan Sakariya
However, others weren't so fortunate. Here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the Sri Lanka tour.
Honorable Mentions: Jaydev Unadkat, Khaleel Ahmed, Rahul Tewatia
3. Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik has proved his credentials as a finisher time and again in the past few years.
India have two wicket-keepers in the squad for the Sri Lanka series - Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson. Both youngsters have played a combined nine T20Is for the national side and have never played in the ODI format.
Veteran gloveman Dinesh Karthik would've added not only valuable experience to the side but also solidity to the lower-middle order as a finisher. Manish Pandey and the Pandya brothers are the only batsmen in the side who are known to perform at the fag end of the innings, with all three preferring to bat up the order.
As a specialist at No. 6, Karthik would've allowed the other batsmen flexibility. Moreover, his T20I performances, in particular, have been exceptional since 2018. Apart from his Nidahas Trophy heroics, he has remained unbeaten in 12 of his last 17 T20I innings, with notable knocks against Australia, New Zealand and West Indies.
2. Vijay Shankar
This might be a left-field choice since Vijay Shankar has seen his name tarnished in the media over the last few months, but the all-rounder offers a unique skill set that cannot be easily replicated for the Indian team.
Shankar wasn't given an extended run at No. 4 while he was part of the national side, with constant injury woes and failures in high-profile matches effectively forcing him out. He didn't exactly grab his opportunities in the Indian Premier League as well, with the Sunrisers Hyderabad using him in a variety of roles.
But at the end of the day, Shankar is part of a rare breed of fast-bowling all-rounders and could be perfectly at home in a country like Sri Lanka, where medium-pacers who are good players of spin find immense success. Hardik Pandya is the only such player in the squad, and his bowling availability has been a topic of concern over the last year or so.
Shankar and Shivam Dube would've been the candidates for a backup pace-bowling all-rounder, and in this case, the former would've definitely had the edge.
1. Harshal Patel
Harshal Patel's IPL 2021 performances withered away drastically as the Royal Challengers Bangalore moved away from Chepauk, but he was still the Purple Cap holder with 17 wickets from seven matches.
On the slow surfaces in Sri Lanka, Harshal may have been in his element. India chose to select only four frontline pacers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar and Chetan Sakariya.
And given that Sakariya was selected primarily on the basis of his IPL campaign, which too fell off after a promising start, the Haryana captain could feel hard done by. The selectors have used the IPL as a yardstick for selection recently, and it perhaps came as a bit of a surprise that Harshal wasn't picked.
Harshal's batting ability is another factor that must be considered. As mentioned earlier, the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka tour features only three all-rounders - Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya and Krishnappa Gowtham. He would've added an extra Shardul Thakur-esque option to the lower-middle order, at least as a backup if nothing more.