NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 18-member squad for the upcoming five-Test series against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on Friday. The Indian cricket board also picked the squad for the four-match T20I series against South Africa.
The five-match Test series is set to commence on November 22 in Perth, with India aiming to defend the trophy. The squad features two new faces in Delhi pacer Harshit Rana and Andhra seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who received their maiden call-up to the national team.However, the selection committee opted not to include Kuldeep Yadav in the squad, as he has been advised to undergo long-term rehabilitation for his groin injury. Another notable absentee is Mohammed Shami, who is still recovering from an ankle injury sustained during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s absence was among the notable exclusions that sparked anger on social media, as he missed out on selection in both the Test and T20I squads.
The Maharashtra batsman, who was recently appointed as the captain of the India A team for their upcoming tour of Australia, was expected to be included as a backup opener for the Border-Gavaskar series.
This decision was based on the possibility of Rohit Sharma missing one of the earlier Test matches due to personal reasons.
Gaikwad has been in impressive form, consistently performing well in the Duleep, Irani, and Ranji Trophy matches over the past two months.
However, the selectors chose to include the in-form Bengal batsman Abhimanyu Easwaran, who has scored four centuries in his last four first-class matches across the aforementioned tournaments.
Fans took to social media to express their disappointment and question the decision to exclude Gaikwad from the squad.
“Politics And Favouritism Won Once Again,” a fan wrote, while another commented, “Can’t find Ruturaj Gaikwad anywhere in both squads.”
Gaikwad is currently the leading run-scorer for Maharashtra in the ongoing Ranji Trophy tournament, with 231 runs in 2 matches at an average of 77.00, including one century and one half-century.