Sri Lanka vs India 2017: 5 players who are unlucky to miss out from the Indian squad
Last night, the Indian selectors announced a sixteen-member squad to face Sri Lanka in a three-Test series that starts later this month. This series will be crucial for Virat Kohli and co. as they are set to tour overseas in the next couple of years and the team management will get an idea on how to approach the overseas assignments.
Rohit Sharma, who injured his hamstring in the ODI series against New Zealand, makes a comeback into the Test team after nine months. Opener Abhinav Mukund, fast bowlers Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami and Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav retain their place in the squad.
First-choice openers Murali Vijay and KL Rahul are set to return after undergoing surgeries at the end of the four-match series against Australia. The selectors also dropped a few names from the squad that faced Australia with Karun Nair being the notable omission.
Squad for the Test series against Sri Lanka: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund.
Despite a fairly strong squad, a few upcoming stars will miss out on the tour. Here are five of them:
#5 Shreyas Iyer
One question every Indian fan will ask is that how long should Shreyas Iyer wait before he makes his debut for the Indian team. The Mumbaikar has been impressive in the Indian domestic circuit for the last three seasons and yet, hasn’t represented the national team even once.
He was drafted into the Indian team for the fourth Test against Australia as a replacement for an injured Virat Kohli but didn’t feature in the game as the team management decided to go in with an extra bowler in Kuldeep. Along with Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer was excluded from the Indian team for the Sri Lanka tour as Rohit Sharma regained full fitness and gets back his place in the middle order.
It is unfair on the Indian selectors to keep someone like Iyer waiting in the wings for a long time. With India scheduled to play overseas in the next couple of years, having a backup batsman like Iyer in the squad for the Sri Lanka tour wouldn’t have been a bad idea.