The BCCI selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar on Thursday (November 30) announced India’s multi-format squads for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
There will be three captains in as many formats for the Indian team on the tour. While Rohit Sharma will lead the Test side, Suryakumar Yadav will captain in the T20I series. KL Rahul has been chosen as the skipper for the ODI series.
India will play three ODIs, three T20Is and two Tests in South Africa. The all-format tour will run from December 26 to January 7.
While the squads feature a blend of young and experienced cricketers, there was also a notable omission. Veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not considered for selection in any format.
Bhuvneshwar’s last appearance for India was in November 2022 and former cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra feels the road ahead isn’t looking good for the right-arm seamer.
"I and you won't decide his career because we are not the selectors, and who are we to say whether it's over or a long career is left? It's not looking good in the current scenario. It seems like a roadblock has come," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"You are not getting opportunities. You had a decent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and a decent IPL as well but you are not getting picked anywhere. It was decided long back that they won't pick him in ODIs but now they are not picking him for T20Is also."
Chopra went on to say that the selectors have started exploring younger fast bowling options now.
"So it seems like the selectors have started looking in other directions and there are options. It is actually a praiseworthy thing about Indian cricket that you always have so many options available that you say you can go with someone else," he stated.
"So Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and then you forget Umran Malik, whom you played matches four months ago. So this is the reality of Indian cricket. So for Bhuvi, you get the drift."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has represented India in 21 Tests, 121 ODIs and 87 T20Is so far, claiming a total of 294 wickets.
