The Zimbabwe v India T20I series will be played in Harare from July 23-26.
Ahead of the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, which begins on July 23, former Indian opener Sadagoppan Ramesh criticized the hypocrisy in the Indian squad selection. Ramesh questioned the selection criteria, pointing out that some people are chosen based on their IPL results while others are not.
The former left-hander feels that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's selection and Shreyas Iyer's appointment as India's T20I captain were a direct result of their impressive IPL performances. However, despite the team's consecutive victories in IPL 2025 and 2026, Ramesh noted that no Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) player received national selection thanks to the IPL.
"T20I selections clearly happen based on IPL performances but only for some. India's current T20I captain Shreyas Iyer has clearly been picked based on the IPL. Yet, there is not a single player selected from two-time defending champions RCB. Similarly, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been selected based on his IPL performance. Still, from the same IPL, they selected Ravi Bishnoi in India's 11 when he couldn't even find a place in the playing 11 for his franchise in the entire second half of the IPL,” Ramesh said on his Instagram.
“Shedge didn't even bowl a single over in the IPL, yet was selected as an all-rounder for India. So this clearly shows that IPL performances are considered for some but not several others,” he added.
Sadagoppan Ramesh went on to criticize the management of the Indian squad for choosing the bowlers for the forthcoming T20I series in Zimbabwe.
He questioned how Ashok Sharma, Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav, and other Indian bowlers from the top 10 of the Purple Cap list for the 2026 Indian Premier League were selected.
"If selections happen based on an exam for 104 students, the obvious metric will be picking the ten highest scorers. If we take this to the IPL, 104 bowlers picked up at least one wicket and qualified for the Purple Cap list in the 2026 season. Five of the top 10 are Indian bowlers, including Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Yet, the bowlers selected for the Zimbabwe series include Harsh Dubey, who's 47th, Ashok Sharma, who's 55th, Yash Thakur, who's 89th out of 104, and Mayank Yadav, who's not even in the list. After playing three matches for India in 2024, Mayank Yadav has played only six matches,” Ramesh stated.
The T20I series will begin on July 23, 2026, with the next two matches on July 25 and 26, all three to be played in Harare.