3 Shocking Decisions In India's Squad For Sri Lanka Tour

BCCI announced India’s squad for the Sri Lanka tour on Thursday. A 25-member squad has been announced including six new inclusions and five net bowlers. The series consists of six games (3 ODIS, 3 T20Is) with Shikhar Dhawan leading the side and Bhuvneshwar Kumar as his deputy. Dhawan is the most experienced player in the squad and likewise has been shouldered the captaincy responsibilities.

The series will be played between July 13-28 at Colombo’s Premadasa stadium. The ODIs will be played between July 13-18. While the T20Is will be played between The tour well and truly kickstarts India’s preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup expected to be played in the UAE later this year in October. The players included in the squad are all T20 specialists and thus it will be an interesting observation to see who makes the most of the given opportunity.

Meanwhile, there have been some shocking exclusions as well. The likes of Jaydev Unadkat,  Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, and Rahul Tewatia have been ignored for the upcoming tour. These have been shocking decisions especially when a 25-member squad was and a few key players have not been included.

In this article, we try to figure 3 shocking decisions that BCCI took as they named a jumbo squad for the six-match tour.

3 Shocking Decisions In India’s Squad For Sri Lanka

The Exclusion of Harshal Patel

2021 had been the year for bowling all-rounder, Harshal Patel. He gained a lot of spotlight in IPL 2021 in the opening fixture of the tournament this year as he picked the first five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Ever since that splendid outing, Harshal Patel didn’t look back.

When IPL 2021 came to a standstill, Harshal Patel was leading the Purple Cap race with 17 wickets in 7 matches. Considering his effectiveness at the highest level, Harshal Patel’s exclusion from the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka tour appears to be a dismal decision by the BCCI.

Also Read: 3 Indian Players Who Can Make Their Debut On The Sri Lanka Tour

Ravi Bishnoi Ignored As A Net Bowler

While it was difficult for Bishnoi to break into the Indian team given their spin resources at the moment, he was expected to be named as a death bowler. Ishan Porel, Sandeep Warrier, Arshdeep Singh, Sai Kishore, Simarjeet Singh are the new bowlers selected for the tour.

Among the inclusions, only Sai Kishore is a spinner. Bishnoi could have been an interesting inclusion even in the main squad since he is still an unknown commodity in international cricket.

Deepak Hooda Ignored Despite Good Domestic Performances

Another shocking exclusion from India’s Squad for the Sri Lanka tour is that of Deepak Hooda. The Baroda all-rounder has been amongst the runs in domestic cricket. He has been a consistent scorer in First Class, List A, and T20 domestic competitions in India. He was previously a part of the Indian squad in the Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka that Indian won under Rohit Sharma.

Hooda is a utility player in the domestic circuit who has scored enough runs to impress the selectors and it is unfortunate that he is being ignored for remaining under the radar.

Also Read: 3 Indian Players Who Can Make Their Debut On The Sri Lanka Tour