Three recent selection controversies that affected the Indian team

The selection committee has stirred up another hornet's nest out of nowhere by not picking Shubman Gill for any of the three India squads travelling to the Caribbean Isles, despite Gill being the most-successful batsman in the recently-concluded ODI series between West Indies A and India A, held in the same islands. This has drawn criticism from influential quarters and engendered disappointment in the concerned player.

There are many in the squad who can play all formats ..surprised not to see shubman gill ..Rahane in the one day squad..

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 24, 2019

This is not the first time that the current disposition, led by former wicket-keeper MSK Prasad, has been under fire for some strange choices and some strange exclusions that have even led to the retirement of players.

Let us, in this article, look at three such controversies in the recent past that has led to a wave of indignation among fans and experts alike.

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#3 Shankar in, Rayudu out

Vijay Shankar loses his wicket against the West Indies in the World Cup.

For months before the World Cup, the one spot that the Indian team management struggled to fill up with a consistent performer was the no.4 position in the middle-order. This was strange for an otherwise complete team that had legendary batsmen occupy the very same position in the past.

In the end, the selectors sprang a surprise by going with all-rounder Vijay Shankar for the position. The ostensible reason was that Shankar could also bowl medium pace besides being a handy batsman and was, therefore, more three-dimensional than the other contender, Ambati Rayudu.

Rayudu first expressed his displeasure in a tweet and then hung up his boots when he was not called up despite Shankar getting injured and then withdrawing from the squad and others such as Rishabh Pant and the uncapped Mayank Agarwal flown in while he was snubbed despite being in the standbys.

Shankar did not really set the world on fire with the bat in the few outings he got in the World Cup. Probably, the selectors were asking a bit too much of a relatively inexperienced cricketer expected to bat at four in the biggest stage of them all. For Rayudu, well, his career ended disappointingly after just 55 ODIs. Interestingly, the charismatic batsman ends with an average of 47 in ODIs, Shankar's average currently hovers around 32 right now.

#2 Karthik in, Pant out

Rishabh Pant showed promise in the World Cup.

As fate would have it, the two men at the centre of another pre-World Cup selection controversy found themselves batting together to rescue India from dire straits in the semi-final against New Zealand. Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant were involved in a much-publicized conundrum before the Cup as to who would travel as the back-up 'keeper to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

In the end, the veteran Karthik, a decorated cricketer who captains Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League, got the nod over the red-hot Pant who seemed to be in the prime form during the IPL and had seemed fresh and full of spirit in the limited opportunities he had got as an India player.

He had a highest score of 159 not out in Tests at an average of almost 50 and he was a breath-taking attacking option. In the end, Pant traveled to England after a spate of injuries and showed glimpses of his talent. Karthik just played two games and failed to cross single digits as a batsman, though, admittedly, he got out to a blinder against the Kiwis and got limited opportunities.

Yet, if you are looking at establishing Pant as the successor to MSD in all formats of the game, then why was he not the first-choice as the former's understudy in the World Cup? Wouldn't that have been the logical way to go about it? Only the selectors can answer that question.

#1 Pandey in, Gill out

Shubman Gill in action for India.

Well, it's not the World Cup and the selectors are bound to experiment with new names but even here, some choices made by the Prasad-led committee seem whimsical.

How do you explain picking Manish Pandey in the team and not give Shubman Gill a look-in in any of the squads? Let's look at the stats from the recently-concluded India A tour of the Windies. Gill was the top-scorer for the tourists with 218 runs at an average of 55.50 while Pandey scored 162 runs at 40.50, having played one game more than Gill. Gill was declared the Man of the Series of the five-match contest.

Brilliant series win and happy to have won the player of the tournament. Always proud to wear the blue of India 🇮🇳💙 pic.twitter.com/t1u7CouAqk

— Shubman Gill (@RealShubmanGill) July 22, 2019

While Pandey had once been tried as the elusive no.4, he was dropped from the national team's plans quite unceremoniously. Gill, on the other hand, had a great IPL and was part of a recent India team that travelled to New Zealand.

Thus, he is bound to be disappointed by the omission and will think what else he needs to do to merit a place in the senior team. Sometimes, pure logic is not enough to explain who gets into the team, the path to the pinnacle is a twisted one for sure.