SL v IND 2021: 5 unlucky players not to get selected for India's white-ball tour for Sri Lanka

India will play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs against Sri Lanka in July.

India will be traveling to Sri Lanka in July 2021 for a white-ball tour comprising of 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is. Since the main first-choice players are currently in the UK for the ICC World Test Championship final and the England Test series, the BCCI selection committee chose to go with domestic white-ball performers.

While Shikhar Dhawan was named captain and Bhuvneshwar Kumar named vice-captain, players like Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Hardik, and Krunal Pandya were included in the 20-man squad.

SL v IND 2021: BCCI announce India’s squad for ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka; Shikhar Dhawan named captain

Apart from this, Indian Premier League (IPL) performers like Rahul Chahar, Nitish Rana, K Gowtham, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devdutt Padikkal, and Chetan Sakariya were picked as well.

But there were some players who had done well in domestic cricket and even in IPL but failed to get a callup for the Indian team on their white-ball tour to Sri Lanka.

Therefore Team COC picks five such players who were unlucky not to get selected for the Sri Lanka tour.

Check out the 5 unlucky players not to get India call-up for the Sri Lanka white-ball tour

SHELDON JACKSON

Sheldon Jackson has been pretty vocal about his non-selection in the Indian team or even the India A team off late and even questioned the selectors saying that their selection criteria which might be based on age, was detrimental to many players who were deserving, but on the wrong side of 30.

"Which law says you can’t be picked for Indian team after the age of 30?" - Sheldon Jackson

Jackson has been a consistent performer in the domestic circuit, scoring over 800 runs in the last two Ranji Trophy seasons. He has 5,634 runs in 76 First-Class matches at an average of 49.22. With the majority of first-choice Indian players on the tour of England, 34-year-old Jackson had high hopes of getting his maiden India call-up.

He had also scored 242 runs in 5 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy recently for Puducherry with one century and one half-century at a strike-rate of 155.12. Hence Sheldon Jackson can call himself unlucky for not being on the flight to Sri Lanka.

SIDDHARTH KAUL

Punjab fast bowler Siddharth Kaul has been a consistent performer in the Indian domestic circuit and has even played 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is for India, picking 4 wickets in T20Is. He has 133 wickets in 114 T20 matches with an economy of 7.60 and a best of 4/14.

Siddharth Kaul feels he can be Virat Kohli's "lucky charm" in World Cup

Kaul, who was part of the India U19 team which won the Youth World Cup in 2008, has 54 wickets in 49 IPL matches as well at an economy of 8.58. He has been part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) team for the past few seasons but has picked 11 wickets in as many matches in the last three IPL editions.

Given the slow pitches in Sri Lanka, Kaul’s variety of bowling could have come in handy and the Punjab lad can call himself unlucky for not being picked for the Sri Lanka tour.

HARSHAL PATEL

One player who can definitely call himself unlucky not to be picked for the Sri Lanka tour is Harshal Patel. Patel is the highest wicket-taker in the currently suspended IPL 2021 season with 17 scalps to his name including a fifer against Mumbai Indians.

IPL 2021: Harshal Patel says he'd love to take the wicket of AB de Villiers if he ever plays against RCB

He is a handy batsman as well and it was a huge surprise that he wasn’t picked for the Sri Lanka tour given that he could have been a great backup for Hardik Pandya and was in terrific form with the ball in the IPL, holding the purple cap currently.  

DINESH KARTHIK

Dinesh Karthik has been out of India team contention since the 2019 World Cup and though the veteran cricketer wants to be part of the Indian playing XI, the selectors have seemingly moved on from him.

IPL 2021: Dinesh Karthik ready to lead KKR again; eyes the finisher's role in Indian team

Karthik feels he is still a contender for the middle order of the Indian team and can be utilized as a finisher, given that he was the one to win India the Nidahas Trophy by hitting a six off the last ball in the final against Bangladesh, the last time India toured Sri Lanka in 2018.

With India going for hard-hitting batsmen like K Gowtham, Hardik Pandya, and Krunal Pandya in the middle order, Karthik might need to have a blockbuster second half of the IPL 2021 to make selectors notice him for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

JAYDEV UNADKAT

Jaydev Unadkat not getting selected in the Indian team for the Sri Lanka white-ball tour was perhaps one of the biggest disappointing outcomes of the announcement. Jaydev Unadkat had primed himself for the slot of the left-arm pacer in the Indian white-ball team as T Natarajan was not in contention due to his rehab.

Jaydev Unadkat takes break from social media after India selection snub; promises to comeback stronger

Unadkat had done pretty well for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the IPL and Saurashtra in the previous Ranji Trophy, picking 67 wickets, and was expecting the India call-up for the island tour given the first-choice pacers were away in England.

But alas, the selectors went for his RR teammate Chetan Sakariya, who impressed everyone with his ability with both the new and old ball in IPL 2021. Unadkat feeling disappointed by non-selection is pretty much justified given his previous performance.