With Afghanistan set to visit India to play a T20I series next week, the BCCI has been confused over the selection of a squad due to injury concerns.
BCCI confused over T20 squad selection
The Men in Blues has recently completed a tour in South Africa and is set to play in a three-match T20I series in Afghanistan’s India tour.
The Indian side has had some major setbacks with some injuries and it is tough for selectors to select a squad for the T20I series on home ground.
It is now clear that Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav are the candidates for captaincy in the T20 format. But those players will be not available for the Afghanistan T20I series.
Their absence has created confusion for the BCCI chief Ajit Agarkar and his selection committee. It is because on the criteria their confusion is around another candidate Rohit Sharma or taking faith in a player like Shubman Gill.
Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer are the other options for the selectors. The committee is still confused about to focus on the upcoming five months leading to the T20 World Cup. The decision will be made in a few hours during the scheduled selection committee meeting later today.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have shown interest in playing in T20 World Cup. The senior players made their last T20I appearance on November 10, 2022, during the World Cup against England in Australia.
On this occasion, Agarkar is in Cape Town along with colleagues Shiv Sundar Das and Salil Ankola. They will be joining Subrata Banerjee and Sharath in India in making the call.
The head coach Rahul Dravid cannot be overruled as he also has an important role in the decision-making.
Hardik Pandya is yet to fully recover from the injury due to which he missed World Cup games last year. He made some progress in his recovery and is expected to be fit for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL). He is set to lead the Mumbai Indians franchise.
On the other hand, Suryakumar Yadav suffered an ankle injury recently and will be out of action for a month.
India and Afghanistan will be playing their first T20I match on January 11 at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
