Badrinath questions Rohit Sharma's selection over Mayank Agarwal in the Test squad

Agarwal got overlooked for Rohit in India's 18-man squad for the tour of Australia.

You would feel for Agarwal, for he has done everything that's been asked of him. | PTI

Subramaniam Badrinath understands what pain and rejection after a selection committee meeting means and hence, he has nothing but sympathy for Mayank Agarwal, who got overlooked for Rohit Sharma in India's 18-man squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. 

In an interesting case scenario, Agarwal, who was actually part of the squad for the 2-match home Test series against West Indies, got dropped on Friday, October 26, and despite having been left out from the side earlier this year and no red-ball performances to fall back to, Rohit Sharma made a comeback at the Test level. 

While, chief selector MSK Prasad said that it is the suitability of Rohit Sharma's game for the expected pace and bounce conducive surfaces down under, that was considered before deciding on a return for the right-hand batsman, the move to leave Agarwal still came across as an injustice. 

“I can actually relate to him," said Badrinath, who played only 2 Tests for India despite being a stalwart at the domestic level, on Sportstar, "He is not at fault. He has been performing and getting runs. He earned his place, did not play a game and now, he is out of the team," and stated, "I would like to ask the selectors what exactly is the process? Is it just to keep him satisfied that they got him into the side? What are they trying to do here?"

In line with this, Badrinath, who retired from all forms of the game recently, questioned why is Rohit Sharma suddenly drafted back despite featuring in no red-ball games since being dropped after the tour of South Africa. 

He said, “We all know that he has not done well in red-ball cricket. Why is he there? He is a different player when it comes to the white ball, you can call him the best opener," before stressing, "In red-ball, he has just not been able to deliver," and signed off. 

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 29 Oct, 2018

    Share Via