India announced their much-changed squad for the T20I series against Bangladesh on Saturday, September 28. In major changes to India's previous T20I squad for the Sri Lanka series, the management recalled the experienced spinner Varun Chakravarthy to the team for the first time since 2021.
As expected, the management rested the key players, including youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal, who are currently engaged in the Test series against Bangladesh. Abhishek Sharma returned to the T20I setup after being dropped for the Sri Lanka series while the young fast bowler Mayank Yadav received his maiden international call-up.
Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad was the biggest name missing from India's T20I squad. Chennai Super Kings skipper was also snubbed for the Sri Lanka series and the recent exclusion suggests the BCCI is looking at Abhishek Sharma as their first-choice opener for the Bangladesh series.
The 27-year-old Gaikwad boasts amazing numbers in T20Is with 633 runs in 20 innings at an average of 39.56 and a strike rate of 143.53 so far. He is set to captain the Rest of India team in the Irani Cup clash against Mumbai starting from October 1 to 5. India is scheduled to play their first T20I game against Bangladesh on October 6 and Ruturaj was expected to play the remaining two games on October 9 and October 12.
The other four major names missing are Khaleel Ahmed, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Prasidh Krishna. All are selected for Irani Cup fixtures and have struggled to cement their places in the T20I team in the last couple of years. Jitesh Sharma's selection ahead of Ishan raises questions as the former has struggled to make an impact in nine T20Is he has played so far.
Both Ishan and Shreyas were removed from the BCCI's central contract list for the 2023-24 season after their lack of appearances for domestic cricket. Both cricketers feature in the recent four-day Duleep Trophy tournament and are also expected to prove their worth in the Ranji Trophy matches starting on October 11.
5 Players missing from India's squad for Bangladesh T20I series
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Khaleel Ahmed, Prasidh Krishna
India squad for Bangladesh T20Is
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav.
