Everyone was expecting that on Sunday, the senior selection committee, headed by Ajit Agarkar, would announce the Indian cricket team for the Champions Trophy starting next month. However, the team was announced, not for the Champions Trophy, but for the five-match T20 series against England.
Late in the evening, a 15-member squad, captained by Suryakumar Yadav, was revealed. Along with the announcement, some surprising decisions were made. Many questions arose, but one question stood out: Why were Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill not included in the T20 team? Let’s explore that.
Shubman Gill had even been appointed vice-captain of the Indian team for limited overs. Under coach Gautam Gambhir, Gill served as vice-captain in both T20 and ODI formats during the team’s tour of Sri Lanka. Yashasvi, on the other hand, has proven with his bat that he can score runs in any format. Rishabh Pant is unmatched in T20 cricket. So, why did the selectors leave them out?
These three were also part of the Indian Test team that recently toured Australia for a five-match series. While Gill missed only one match, Yashasvi and Pant played all the matches. Considering this, all three must have been fatigued, and this could be the reason they were given rest.
Focus on the Champions Trophy
This rest is crucial, especially since India will participate in the Champions Trophy in February, and all three are key players for the ODI format. Keeping them fresh before this significant tournament is vital. The selectors likely don’t want to risk tiring them out with T20s. India also has an ODI series against England before the Champions Trophy, and these three could be featured in that series to prepare them for the ODIs.
India vs England squads for T20I series
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk)
