Kris Srikkanth, a former India opener, has criticized the selection committee for adding all-rounder Vipraj Nigam to India's roster for the Asian Games 2026 as a replacement for injured spinner Varun Chakaravarthy.  

The 35-year-old Tamil Nadu spinner sustained an injury during the first T20I against Afghanistan and was ruled out of the remaining two matches in the series, as well as the upcoming Asian Games.

The BCCI selection committee chose Vipraj Nigam as his replacement after he impressed many due to his outings for Delhi Capitals in the IPL and recently for the India A team.

"How did Vipraj Nigam get into the squad out of nowhere? On what basis has he been picked? Is he such a great bowler to be picked as a like-for-like for Varun Chakaravarthy? You can't dish out the Indian cap like this to everyone. It's like you can purchase an Indian cap in a shop now," said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.

Srikkanth also asked the selectors why the likes of Krunal Pandya, Rajat Patidar, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were being constantly ignored, despite their giant contributions in Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) winning two IPL titles in 2025 and 2026.

"What wrong have Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar done in life? Some of these selections are baffling. Age cannot be the only decider, as it seems to be with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya. It's also about capability and performance.

The younger players have to push these guys out through performances. But have Yash Thakur or Ravi Bishnoi done that through performances? Definitely not. These guys don't even fit into the 11 for IPL teams," Srikkanth said.

India's Asian Games 2026 campaign will begin from the quarterfinal stage on September 28 in Nagoya, Japan. Before that, India will play a one-off T20I game against Japan in Sano on September 22.