Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav
Veteran Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh on Friday opined that Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav deserves to be part of the T20I setup of the Indian cricket team.
The BCCI is looking to organise a six-week-long national camp for its top cricketers sometime next month and is hence is in search of a safe venue. However, if they fail to organise the camp, players will go back to their respective IPL camps later in the year.
While speculation have begun surrounding Mahendra Singh Dhoni and whether the former India captain will be part of the camp given that he has been dropped from the central contracts list, Harbhajan feels that the management should call upon young cricketers.
"I would like to see Suryakumar Yadav, the young U-19 leg-spinner (Ravi Bishnoi) and Yashasvi Jaiswal in that camp. They should get a chance to interact with the senior players. No one deserves it more than Surya, who should be in that T20 team," Harbhajan told PTI.
Former India keeper and analyst Deep Dasgupta feels that selectors should have a word with Dhoni if he wants to be a part of the camp.
"I mean if Dhoni is a part of that camp, it will be six weeks with the next batch of keepers who can pick his brains. Yes, if he is not a part of that camp, I would still not rule him out if he has a good IPL. Say he bats at No 4 for CSK and gets 500 runs, can you ignore him then?" questioned Dasgupta.
A senior official privy to selection matters said that it would be very surprising if Dhoni is picked for the camp.
"He hasn't played for one year. You haven't seen in what shape he is right now. He is not in central contracts and he wasn't even picked for the T20s against West Indies last year. Still if he is called for a camp, it will be surprising," the official told PTI.
(with PTI inputs)
