'With retirements of legends...' - Scott Styris rips into BCCI for Abhishek Sharma's Sri Lanka tour snub

Former New Zealand allrounder Scott Styris opened up about young opener Abhishek Sharma's exclusion from India's squad despite scoring his maiden century in Zimbabwe. Scott Styris said that he would have kept Abhishek Sharma in the squad, considering his performances in the T20I series in Zimbabwe.

Following his heroics in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Abhishek Sharma earned his maiden call-up from the senior team for the Zimbabwe tour. The left-handed batter made his debut in the first T20I but didn't make the most of it. He was dismissed for a four-ball duck during the series opener in Harare.

However, the 23-year-old batter smashed a century in his second match, scoring 100 runs off 47 deliveries with seven fours and eight sixes. He registered scores of 10 (9) and 14 (9) in his remaining two innings in the series. He failed to make it to the 15-member squad for the three-match series in Sri Lanka.

Abhishek Sharma Did Start Well In Zimbabwe Series - Scott Styris

Abhishek Sharma's exclusion raised a lot of eyebrows, especially since no backup opener was named. Scott Styris said that he would have included Abhishek Sharma for the Sri Lanka series. Styris said that it's time to bring young players, especially after the retirements of legends.

"I also would have kept Abhishek Sharma. He did start well in the series in Zimbabwe. I think you’ve got to give those young players time and India, with all the retirements of their legends, have got time now to bring that next wave through," Styris told News18 CricketNext.

Middle Order Batsmen Are Harder To Find - Scott Styris

Scott Styris spoke about the inclusion of Riyan Parag over Abhishek Sharma. The cricketer-turned-commentator stated that it is difficult to find reliable middle-order batsmen. Styris noted Parag's consistent performances in the IPL. He praised the selectors for not dropping players after one series.

"I think middle-order batsmen are harder to find. Doesn’t matter whether you’ve got all the depth India has or whether you’re from New Zealand where we have very little depth. I think finding those consistent run scorers within the white ball in the middle order is hard. And that’s why Shivam Dube earned his right to be in this team."

"That’s why we’ve seen Riyan Parag with his performances at the IPL. We all knew he had the talent, we were just looking for him to break out. Now that he has, I like it because there’s no point throwing players in for one series and then dropping them in another. So, I love the fact that they’ve picked him," Styris further added.

Riyan Parag showcased remarkable performances in domestic cricket and IPL 2024. He scored 573 runs in the IPL 2024 at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of 149.22. The right-handed batter made his debut in Zimbabwe and scored only 24 runs in two innings. However, he was selected for the Sri Lanka tour in both T20I and ODI matches despite underwhelming performances.

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