Sunil Gavaskar questions the selection of Ashish Nehra for the New Zealand series

What’s the story?

Sunil Gavaskar has posed questions at the Indian selection panel for their decision to pick Ashish Nehra for the T20I series against New Zealand.

Nehra, who had announced his retirement from International cricket had asked the BCCI to grant him a farewell match at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi. This has not gone down well with the former Indian captain who has said that selections should be based ‘not on emotions but simply merit’.

“Ashish Nehra announcing his retirement also makes a bit of an issue, for with him not being selected for the first two games, how are the selectors going to pick him in the playing XI in the first T20 match of the new series against New Zealand?” Gavaskar wrote in his column for The Times of India.

The details

Gavaskar also said that since Nehra did not play in the first two T20 matches against Australia, his selection for the final T20 against New Zealand ahead Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah could be quite tough and very intriguing, to say the least.

The former Indian opener also came down hard on the Hyderabad Cricket Association for not looking after the stadium, owing to which the final T20I match between India and Australia had to be called off.

Gavaskar wrote that the BCCI should make it mandatory for all cricket associations to cover the entire ground during rains.

In case you didn’t know…

Veteran pacer Ashish Nehra decided to end his 18-year international career with the T20I against New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla, his home ground, on November 1.

“I have spoken to the team management as well as the chairman of selection committee that the game against New Zealand has come in Delhi. So it can’t get bigger than retiring in front of your home fans where I played my first Ranji Trophy game 20 years ago,” Nehra said while announcing his retirement.

What’s next?

After having tasted success against Australia, the Indian team now await New Zealand. The series will see 3-ODIs and 3 T20s.

Author’s take

Although there is a lot of sense in what Sunil Gavaskar is saying, Ashish Nehra has done enough for Indian cricket to deserve a farewell at his home venue.

However, it would be interesting to see how the Indian management chalks out a combination if the series is on the line for the final match.