IND vs SL: Controversy not stopping after team announcement for Sri Lanka tour, Harbhajan raised a big question
Team India Squad for Sri Lanka Tour 2024: Abhishek Sharma's exclusion from the T20 squad became the biggest talking point as he recently made his debut against Zimbabwe and scored a century in his second match.
Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has questioned the exclusion of spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and Abhishek Sharma from the Men in Blue squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour. Under the leadership of new head coach Gautam Gambhir, India is scheduled to play three T20Is and three ODIs in Sri Lanka starting July 27. The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday announced the squads for both formats and named Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20 captain following Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format.
In the T20 squad, Abhishek Sharma's exclusion was the biggest talking point, he recently made his debut against Zimbabwe and scored a century in his second match as well. He did not find a place in any of the squads while Chahal, who was part of the T20 World Cup, was also dropped for the Sri Lanka tour. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson, on the other hand, was named only in the T20 squad and not included in the ODIs as Rishabh Pant has been recalled after making a comeback to the Indian team in the T20 World Cup last month. "Hard to understand why Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are not part of the Indian squad for Sri Lanka," Harbhajan wrote on X.
Besides, India's key players returned to the T20s after being rested for the Zimbabwe tour. Harshit Rana's inclusion in the ODI squad was one of the notable changes in the announcement. The 22-year-old Delhi pacer has been included in the squad for the first time and will join his former Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gambhir in Sri Lanka. In IPL 2024, he bagged 19 wickets in 13 matches for KKR and was the second-highest wicket-taker for the franchise after Varun Chakravarthy's 21 wickets.
India T20 squad for Sri Lanka tour: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Mohammed Siraj.
India ODI squad for Sri Lanka tour: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.
