Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth questioned the preferential treatment given to young all-rounder Suryansh Shedge after the side’s loss in the fifth and final T20I against England. Srikkanth further claimed that Shreyas Iyer’s presence as captain has led to Shedge’s selection over the latter’s actual performances.
The 23-year-old, who plays for the same domestic side as Iyer, Mumbai, also played under Iyer with the Punjab Kings (PBKS) over the last two IPL seasons. Shedge had a dismal showing with ball and bat in the final England T20I, conceding 39 runs off three overs and scoring only seven off six deliveries.
Questioning the youngster’s selection to the Indian side on his YouTube channel, Cheeky Cheeka, Srikkanth said (3:25):
“This is the guy they are trying to brand as Hardik Pandya’s replacement. He has clearly been picked out of the Mumbai and Punjab Kings quota. He has done nothing substantial in the IPL and rarely even bowls. Scoring the odd 30, even I’ll do at my age. He is selected because Shreyas Iyer is the Mumbai and Punjab Kings captain and Ajit Agarkar is the selector from Mumbai.”
The former opener continued:
“He is getting promoted as an all-rounder. The military medium pace that he is bowling, even with my terrible eyesight at 66, I’ll smash him. Players like Shedge should be in the shed. He has been named correctly as Shedge as he should be in the shed. You can’t be picking players on quota. He can’t bat or bowl and is a liability even on the field.”
Shedge also played in the second T20I against Ireland before the series finale against England. He struggled in that contest also, giving away 25 runs off two wicketless overs and scoring a five-ball one.
“Instead of playing guys like Shedge and Dube, multiple others can be given chances” – K Srikkanth
Kris Srikkanth urged the Indian management to give opportunities to several deserving players instead of the likes of Suryansh Shedge and Shivam Dube. Like Shedge, Dube also endured a woeful outing in the final T20I against England, conceding 22 off his solitary over and scoring only a 10-ball 14.
“Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Mohsin Khan and maybe Gurnoor Brar can come in. Instead of playing guys like Shedge and Dube, multiple others can be given chances. Why is Rajat Patidar not being picked? What wrong did he do? Won’t he hit that six Dube hits? He can hit much bigger and better than Dube against spin and pace. Dube can do nothing against pace,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).
India are in the middle of a shocking six-match losing streak in T20Is, suffering 0-2 and 0-4 series losses to Ireland and England, respectively.
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran