Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath questioned captain Shreyas Iyer for including Suryansh Shedge in the fifth T20I against England, which India lost by 56 runs at Rose Bowl, Southampton, on Saturday.
Shedge was added to the squad for the UK tour after Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out with an injury. The Mumbai all-rounder made his T20I debut against Ireland but failed to impress with both bat and ball. The youngster received his second opportunity in the final game of the series against England but he conceded 39 runs in the three overs he bowled and went wicketless.
Shedge was dismissed after scoring seven runs off six deliveries and thus also could not deliver with the bat. However, Shedge had impressed with his consistent performances for India A in the tri-series against Afghanistan A and Sri Lanka A. The right-hander had scored 147 runs in five matches at an average of 36.75.
Badrinath said on his YouTube Channel, “This looks like a Shreyas selection. Shreyas clearly has a say in selection, evidenced by this. So he has to take responsibility for results even if he’s new to captaincy. He has been very poor as captain. The selection of Suryansh Shedge makes you question Shreyas.”
“Shedge plays for PBKS and Mumbai and he hasn’t done much in his T20 career. He has also not that done something great in T20s. Because of Mumbai and Punjab Kings, he gets a chance straight into the Indian team ahead of many other cricketers like Bhuvneshwar Kumar.”
India have got off to a dismal start under Shreyas Iyer’s captaincy, losing six out of the seven matches on the UK tour, with one ending in a no-result because of rain.
The former CSK batter, Badrinath, said he won’t take any excuses and said India’s performance was not up to the mark, which led to their downfall.
“I won’t accept excuses like IPL hangover and body tiredness. These are things those that work for daily wages can say. A high-level Indian professional cricketer can’t say these. If so, then sit at home and don’t play cricket. You are carrying the expectations of a billion people, and its a privilege to play for India. It’s not a right so you cannot give these excuses,” said Badrinath (via the aforementioned source).
“I am shocked by these results as we have the best T20 tournament in the world in the IPL, which breeds talent. The BCCI also provides the Indian cricketers with the best of things. So when you go and perform like this, questions must and will be asked.”
India and England will next take on each other in a three-match ODI series, starting Tuesday at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
