NZ v IND 2019: Sunil Gavaskar feels bad for Vijay Shankar after Hardik Pandya’s return to India squad

The suspensions on Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul was lifted by CoA on Thursday.

Vijay Shankar has done a decent job with the ball in his two ODIs thus far | Getty

Sunil Gavaskar is not impressed with BCCI’s decision to draft Hardik Pandya into the Indian squad considering Vijay Shankar’s good showing in the last two ODIs against Australia and New Zealand respectively.

The Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) along with Amicus Curiae PS Narasimha on Thursday, January 24 decided to lift the suspensions on Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul. Subsequently, the cricket board sent Pandya to New Zealand for the remaining limited-overs matches while Rahul was picked in the India ‘A’ team that is playing five one-day games against England Lions in Thiruvananthapuram.

“The question is what was he (Hardik Pandya) suspended for? How has the suspension been lifted without a hearing? But forget all that,” Gavaskar told India Today.

“Hardik will be key for India at the World Cup and it’s a good thing he is coming to New Zealand but then what happens to Vijay Shankar? He has not done a bad job at all in the two games he has played so far. What’s going to be his position? Is he going to be sent back now that Pandya is coming here?

"I know BCCI is wealthy enough to have 20, 30 people. We saw a squad of 19 in Australia. I think the sooner that is sorted out, the better it will be for everyone concerned,” he added.

In his two ODIs for India, Shankar has done a decent job with the ball while he hasn’t got a chance to show his prowess with the willow. Vijay Shankar had given away 23 runs in 6 overs in his debut ODI against Australia at MCG last week, whereas he conceded 19 runs in 4 overs in the ODI series opener against the Black Caps.

On Friday (January 25), a BCCI official also questioned the move to send Pandya to New Zealand.

"I am still trying to wrap my head around the logic of it all. First the players are suspended pending inquiry, knowing fully well that there is no Ombudsman. Then the associations’ efforts to appoint an Ombudsman is vicariously blocked. Replacements are selected and packed off to New Zealand. Then they decide to revoke the suspension when there is no provision for revoking suspensions,” an anonymous BCCI official was quoted saying to Hindustan Times.

"Then, despite the replacements being in New Zealand, the selection committee surprisingly meets again and sends one of the two players to New Zealand. What is the message that you are sending to Vijay Shankar? Is our bench strength a sham? Indian cricket administration seems to be caught in a quicksand of incompetence and the more they wriggle, the more they sink," he added.

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 26 Jan, 2019

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