The selection of the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2024 has sparked a controversy, with former Indian cricketer and chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth criticizing the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for its decision.
Srikkanth lashes out at BCCI
Srikkanth has accused the BCCI of favouritism for selecting Shubman Gill over Ruturaj Gaikwad in the reserves for the T20 World Cup. He expressed his disappointment on his YouTube channel, questioning why Gill was selected despite his poor form.
Srikkanth pointed out that Gill continues to get chances despite failing time and again. “Shubman Gill is totally out of form, but why he’s selected in the team? There’s no doubt that Ruturaj Gaikwad deserves a place. He scored more than 500 runs in 17 innings. Also, he scored a century against Australia. Shubman Gill is the selectors’ delight. He gets a chance even if he fails. He finds a place even if he fails in Test, ODIs, and T20s. There’s too much favouritism in selection. The team selection is all about favouritism,” said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the skipper of Chennai Super Kings, has been in stellar form in the ongoing Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024), being the leading run-scorer of the season so far. He has scored 509 runs from ten innings at an average of 63.62 and a strike rate of 146.68 with one hundred and four fifties. On the other hand, Gill has amassed 320 runs from ten innings at an average of 35.55 and a strike rate of 140.96 with two half-centuries.
Notably, Gaikwad also boasts a superior T20I record as compared to Gill having 500 runs to his name from 17 innings at an average of 35.71 and a strike rate of 140.05. The 27-year-old also finished as the highest run scorer of the last T20I series he played against Australia in 2023 scoring 223 runs from five innings at an average of 55.75 and a strike rate of 159.28.
On the other hand, Gill has 335 runs from 14 innings in T20Is at an average of 25.76 and a strike rate of 147.57. The 24-year-old has just one fifty-plus score in his last seven innings. However, he had a phenomenal season in 2023 finishing as the highest run scorer of IPL 2023 (890 runs) and also registered the highest individual score for India in T20Is scoring 126* (63) against New Zealand in February 2023.
With stiff competition between Gill and Gaikwad, the selectors went ahead with Yashasvi Jaiswal in the 15-member squad who rose through the ranks in the IPL 2023 with 625 runs from 14 innings and has scored 502 runs from 16 innings in his T20I career at a strike rate of 161.93.
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