IND vs BAN: Snub for Ishan,Ruturaj and long rope for Shivam Dube, three baffling calls made by Indian selection committee

The BCCI announced India's 15-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh. Suryakumar Yadav will be leading the side, on the other hand, India's star all-rounder Hardik Pandya will be seen making his comeback in the team. Despite not being in good form for India, Sanju Samson has managed to retain his place in the side. 

Pace bowler Mayank Yadav has been given his first-ever international call-up. Harshit Rana has also been included in the team after his impressive bowling throughout this season. Left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh will be leading the bowling attack with either Mayank/ Harshit being the 2nd pacer in the side. 

Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj as expected have been rested for the series. The three stars are part of the Test team that is playing against Bangladesh. Gwalior will host the first game on 6th October followed by matches in New Delhi and Hyderabad on 9th and 12th. 

Also read: India announce 15-member squad for upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh

Here are the three selection calls made by the selection committee 

3- Longer rope for Shivam Dube 

One of the biggest surprises by the Indian selection committee for the IND v BAN T20I series was the retention of Shivam Dube. The 31-year-old began the year with two successive fifties against Afghanistan. The first two games had yielded 123 runs while the next 13 matches have yielded 173 runs. Shivam Dube has also picked a mere 5 wickets with an economy rate of 9 runs per over. This is a staggering call since India already has Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy. One has to wonder if the BCCI could have included someone like Sai Sudharsan who has been in much better batting form. The left-handed batter also scored a century in the final game of the Duleep Trophy season. 

2- Return of Varun Chakaravarthy as Yuzvendra Chahal faces another snub

33-year-old mystery spin bowler Varun Chakravarthy has earned his long-awaited recall to the Indian side. The 33-year-old last played for India during the 2021 T20 World Cup. So far Varun Chakravarthy has picked just 2 wickets from 6 games. His form in the IPL saw him pick 24 wickets and a further 12 scalps from 10 games in the TNPL 2024 campaign. The exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal is baffling to say the least. The 34-year-old has picked 24 wickets across formats during his recent stint in England. Yuzvendra Chahal is also the leading wicket-taker for India in T20 cricket with 96 wickets. In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, the inclusion of Chahal would have made more sense. 

1- Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ishan Kishan face continued snubs, Jitesh Sharma and Sanju Samson earn call-ups 

Ishan Kishan has made a terrific return to cricket with the bat. The 26-year-old has scored a century each in the Buchi Babu and Duleep Trophy 2024 tournament. This though hasn’t found any favours with the BCCI who have excluded the young wicketkeeper and batter. Ruturaj Gaikwad is a tougher pill to swallow as the 27-year-old has been in decent form with the bat. With Shubman Gill being rested, the right call would have been to include Gaikwad in the series. The CSK skipper has scored 133 runs from 4 games with an average of 66.5 and a strike rate of 158. 

Sanju Samson has been retained despite scoring a mere 70 runs from 6 games. The 29-year-old has scored two ducks in his last two games for India. Barring his 58 against Zimbabwe in the final T20 game of the series, the Kerala star has scored 3 ducks this year. The inclusion of Jitesh Sharma is even more baffling as he scored a mere 187 runs from 14 matches during the IPL 2024 season. In the 9 games he has played for India, Jitesh Sharma has scored just 100 runs with a best of 35 and a strike rate of 147. 

One has to wonder what Ruturaj Gaikwad or Ishan Kishan need to do more to warrant selection. The series against Bangladesh was the best time to check out the two Indian stars who have done well in the chances they have got. Gaikwad in particular will be hard done by as not too long ago he led the team to a gold medal in the Asian Games.