MSK Prasad explains why Mayank Agarwal didn't find a place in ODI squad for Windies tour

Follow us on

Mayank Agarwal was selected in the 2019 World Cup squad ahead of any other middle-order batsman when Vijay Shankar was ruled out of the tournament but as India gets ready to tour West Indies, the stylish opener has found himself out of the squad for the limited-overs leg.

Agarwal's inclusion in place of an all-rounder ahead of Ambati Rayudu was questioned by many but he had runs under his belt and KL Rahul's injury at the moment, swung it in his favour.

But, with everybody including Shikhar Dhawan being fit and the selectors looking at a middle-order batsman, Mayank has been overlooked in favour of Shreyas Iyer and Manish Pandey.

And, when he was asked as to what prompted the selectors to not continue with Mayank, chief selector MSK Prasad said that it was the team management's decision to have Maynak come in for Shankar and they went with what was required.

"In between any series I don't do press conference and that has led to speculations. When Dhawan got injured, we already had a third opener in KL. We didn't have a left hander at top so the team management had requested for a left-hander and we had no option other than Pant. It confused many why middle-order came in for opener. Again why an opener for Vijay Shankar.

"When Shankar was injured, Rahul had a big fall at the boundary so there was a medical emergency on whether he will continue or not. At that time a written communication was given that a back-up opener was needed. That is when we went to Mayank," Prasad explained.

However, Mayank is a part of the Test squad along with Rohit Sharma, who also retained his place in the side for the two Tests, which mark the beginning of the Test Championships.

But, in ODIs, it looks like Mayank much like Shubman Gill, is further down the pecking order.

"He was given an opportunity when K.L. Rahul was out against New Zealand, he will have to wait for his turn," said Prasad, when asked about Shubman.

India squad for 3 ODIs and T20Is:

T20Is: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Krunal Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Rahul Chahar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini

ODIs: Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kedar Jadhav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Navdeep Saini