Harbhajan Singh has expressed doubts over the Indian selection panel’s choice to leave out players from their respective forms for the forthcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, including Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, and Abhishek Sharma.
Indian will play as many ODIs and three T20Is in the island nation. The BCCI released the squads for the two formats earlier this week, and several unexpected selections have drawn criticism from the cricket community.
Samson’s removal from the 50-over squad has been one of the decisions that has drawn the most criticism. In December 2023, the wicketkeeper-batter made his final ODI appearance in Paarl against South Africa and scored a century. In the meantime, Abhishek, who just played his first T20I series against Zimbabwe as an international player, hit a brilliant century in just his second game. He was removed from the T20I team, though.
The veteran Chahal was another unexpected person left out. The leg-spinner was a member of the Indian team that won the T20 World Cup last month. But he didn’t receive a game. The small cricket player is not included in either team’s selection.
Following the selection of the Indian squad for the Sri Lanka series, Harbhajan Singh tweeted on social media, saying, “Hard to understand why Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, and Abhishek Sharma are not a part of the Indian team.”
Hard to understand why @yuzi_chahal @IamAbhiSharma4 @IamSanjuSamson are not part of the Indian Team for Sri Lanka 🙄
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 19, 2024
Sri Lanka is where Gautam Gambhir’s reign begins.
Gautam Gambhir, the new head coach of India, will lead his team’s inaugural tour to Sri Lanka. Rahul Dravid, who guided the Men in Blue to the T20 World Cup championship last month, has been replaced by the former cricket player from India.
On Saturday, July 27, the first Twenty20 International match will take place at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. The same location will host the second and third Twenty20 Internationals on July 28 and 30. The ODI series will begin at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo after the T20 leg is finished. August 2, 4, and 7 are the dates for the three games, respectively.