Kris Srikkanth, ex-India opener and captain, has slammed the BCCI selectors for their picks in the Indian squad for the Zimbabwe T20I series. He questioned on what basis Rinku Singh was picked and how come no one from IPL winners RCB, like Rajat Patidar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and others, was excluded.
India will begin their T20I series against Zimbabwe on July 23, with the other two games to be played on July 25 and 26, with Harare hosting all the games.
"Prabhsimran Singh is a good selection based on IPL performance. But the same thing should have been done for Rajat Patidar. Where did Rinku Singh come from? Patidar should have been picked instead of him. Krunal Pandya should have been picked instead of Harsh Dubey or Ravi Bishnoi. And Bhuvneshwar Kumar should have been picked instead of one of the medium-pacers. It's hard to understand their selection policy,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
Bishnoi and Rinku had poor performances in their most recent T20I, while Harsh Dubey, Yash Thakur, and Ashok Sharma have not yet played a T20I for India in the team for the Zimbabwe series.
Kris Srikkanth criticized the selectors for failing to include Rajat Patidar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Krunal Pandya of the RCB in a second-string team for the Zimbabwe T20I series.
In IPL 2026, Bhuvneshwar spearheaded RCB's attack with 28 wickets at an astounding average of less than 18, while Patidar excelled in the middle order with over 500 runs at a strike rate of over 193. Krunal Pandya picked up 14 wickets and scored 226 runs for RCB in IPL 2026.
"Krunal Pandya could have at least been given a chance in this Zimbabwe series. Even Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rajat Patidar should have gotten a chance in this series, especially when you are giving so many other newer players a chance. This is gross injustice. Some random guys are being given chances, yet what wrong did Patidar do to not get a chance?" said Srikkanth.
Krunal and Pandya last played a T20I for India in 2021 and 2022, respectively, while Patidar has not played a T20I for India.
