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Former Indian batter S Badrinath, in his assessment of India's squad for the T20I against Afghanistan, stated that the favorite players of the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, are back in the team again. Badrinath, however, did not mention the exact names of Gambhir's favourites, but he took a few names in his explanation.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has revealed the squad for the upcoming Three-match T20I series against Afghanistan, which will be held in Delhi but hosted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). On paper, the series is not among any high-profile contests, but it could take an interesting turn if the players, like Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar, who have been dealing with Injuries for weeks, come out to perform for the Men in Blue.
S Badrinath especially mentioned Washington Sundar
S Badrinath explained his takeaways from India's T20I squad in one of his official YouTube channel videos. The cheeky 'coach's favourites' remark was the highlight of the video. Spin bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar was among the names Badrinath mentioned in his explanation.
The former batter observed that Washington Sundar was among those few players who received multiple chances to shine for the national cricket team. In the upcoming series, Badrinath advised the all-rounder to utilize the chance as much as possible.
S Badrinath refuses to rate Nitish Kumar Reddy as an all-rounder
But he was not impressed with the pace-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Subramaniam Badrinath considered the young all-rounder more as a batter than as an all-rounder.
"At first glance, the coach's favorites are back. Washington Sundar is getting tremendous backing in Indian cricket. He needs to make the most of it. And somehow I don't rate Nitish Kumar Reddy so high. That's because of his bowling. I still feel he's a batter and not someone I rate with the ball," Badrinath commented.
In the same YouTube video, S Badrinath said the selectors' decision to bring back Jasprit Bumrah was the most positive call ahead of the series against Afghanistan, scheduled to start on September 19. Bumrah missed multiple matches in the recent past, including the Zimbabwe series and the Test series against Sri Lanka, because of an injury he got during the series in England.
The return of Jasprit Bumrah is the biggest positive thing in India's T20I team vs Afghanistan
The fast bowler's fitness remained a constant concern for the national side despite constant workload management. The former batter assumed that Jasprit Bumrah himself might have insisted to the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, or the selectors to keep him for the India vs Afghanistan T20I series.
"Bumrah's return is a huge positive. It could also have been that Bumrah told the management that he wanted to play these three matches. Then they have to select him. We don't know that. Bumrah might have spoken to Gambhir or the selection committee and said he wants to play because he hasn't played cricket for a long time. So it could have been Bumrah's option," S Badrinath added.
