"World No. 1 Bowler Not In Playing XI...": Gautam Gambhir Questions India's Baffling Selection Call

The Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian cricket team's Tour of South Africa has begun on a poor note. After the first T20I against South Africa was washed out, the side lost the rain-affected second T20I by five wickets. This T20I series is one of the two international contests in the shortest formats that India will play ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup in June next year. From now on, the BCCI selectors have only four more T20Is and the IPL to select their team combination for the marquee event. However, some of the choices that India made against South Africa for the second T20I surprised experts.

"Any surprises?", the anchor at Star Sports asked after the playing XIs were announced ahead of the second T20I between India and South Africa on Wednesday. While Ruturaj Gaikwad, centurion against Australia in the last T20I series that India played, was not picked due to illness, the Indian team management went with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja as spinners while Tilak Verma got the nod in the middle-order.

Piyush Chawla replied: "The way Ravi Bishnoi performed in the previous series; he should have played. He's recently topped the ICC rankings and hence, he would definitely be disappointed."

Then the anchor told Gautam Gambhir, that even Shreyas Iyer was not picked but Tilak Verma was.

"I don't know what could be the reason (behind not picking Shreyas Iyer) because he just scored a half-century in the last game (vs Australia) in Bengaluru. Now what could the reason be - whether they are looking at left-handers or Iyer has a niggle - only team management can answer it. But yeah, like PC said, if the world No.1-ranked T20I bowler is not in your Playing XI... and this is not your main team - you are giving youngsters chances here. Only Suryakumar Yadav and the team management can provide some clarity," Gautam Gambhir said.

Despite defeat against South Africa, India captain Suryakumar Yadav lauded Proteas' batting unit and stated that the way hosts beautifully batted in the first 5-6 overs of the chase took the game out of visitors grasp.

South Africa chased down the revised target of 152 runs to beat India by five wickets in a rain-curtailed match in the second T20I of a three-game series at St George's Park in Gqeberha on Tuesday.

South Africa registered an incredible win to take a 1-0 lead against India. Reeza Hendricks smashed 49 off 27 balls, and most other South African batters got off to fast starts as the hosts raced down the mark without breaking a sweat. The only time they were under trouble in the second innings was when they lost three wickets in a row, including Hendricks and Heinrich Klaasen.

"They batted beautifully in the first 5-6 overs and took the game away from us. It was the brand of cricket we were talking about, just go out and express ourselves. It was tough with the wet ball, but we would face similar situations in the future and it's a good learning for us," Suryakumar Yadav said during a post-match presentation.

With ANI inputs