Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad slammed captain Rohit Sharma, the selectors and the team management for dropping Ishan Kishan in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati. Kishan had scored the fastest double century in India’s last ODI against Bangladesh in December replacing an injured Rohit Sharma who was ruled out due to a dislocated thumb. India, however, decided to play Shubam Gill in the series opener against Sri Lanka on Tuesday. It was expected as Rohit had confirmed the same in the pre-match press conference.
Venkatesh Prasad, however, did not buy into Rohit’s logic. He instead, accused the Rohit-led team management for bias in selection, saying performance doesn’t seem to be the primary criteron for selection in the Indian side nowadays.
“Think fair would have been to give chance to a man who scored a double hundred in India’s last ODI, and in a series where India lost two games and the series. Have all the time in the world for Gill, but no way you drop a player for scoring a double ton. And if one is convinced to play Gill, then can have him bat at 3 and let Ishan keep wickets instead of KL Rahul,” he tweeted.
The former pacer also cited India’s decision to prefer KL Rahul over someone like Rishabh Pant in ODIs to strengthen his point of inconsistency in selection.
“There is a reason we have underperformed in Limited overs cricket. Constant chopping changing and a guy who does brilliantly and is an X factor is dropped and mediocrity retained.
“In Eng, Pant scored a hundred in the final ODI and helped India win the series. However, based on T20 form was dropped from ODI team. KL Rahul on the other hand barring a couple of innings has failed consistently but retains his place. Performance is not the foremost parameter. Sad,” he added.
