The team management of India has to face a lot of criticisms from fans as the selection panel has made multiple surprising decisions. The ongoing IND vs NZ series is also not an exception.
In December, Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar, BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia, and captain Suryakumar Yadav announced the T20 World Cup squad at a press conference. As soon as the team was announced, all the discussion turned to Shubman Gill, who was the vice-captain of the T20 team at the time but was omitted from the World Cup squad. Subsequently, reports emerged that Gill was informed of this decision barely half an hour before the team was announced.
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Jitesh Sharma spoke out about his team India snub
While Gill was in the dark until the last minute, Jitesh Sharma wasn’t even informed by the selectors. In an interview with CricTracker, Jitesh revealed that he only learned about the decision from the media.
The Baroda wicketkeeper said, “I had no idea about my exclusion from the team until the squad was announced. I agreed with the reason the selectors gave in the press conference later, as it was a valid one.” Jitesh said he later spoke with the coach and selectors. He said, “After that, I discussed this with the coach and selectors, and I felt their reasoning was valid. I understood what they were trying to convey and agreed with it.”
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Ishan Kishan returned to Team India in place of Jitesh. Ajit Agarkar had said at the time that the team management wanted a wicketkeeper-batsman in the top order, which led to the selection of Sanju Samson over Gill, and that Ishan was preferred over Jitesh as the second wicketkeeper. Jitesh had been playing the role of finisher for Team India, but Rinku Singh has been included in the squad to fill that role.