After the squad for the T20 was revealed for the upcoming India tour to West Indies, the fans as well as experts were surprised that the name of the explosive middle-order batter, Rinku Singh wasn’t there in the squad.
Rinku has been a revolutionary batter for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) but was not selected for the Indian T20I team for the West Indies tour despite his outstanding IPL 2023 exploits. The 15-man Team India squad for the 5-match T20I series against the West Indies was announced by the selectors on Wednesday. The list once again omits veteran players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja. Suryakumar Yadav will serve as Hardik Pandya’s assistant in the shortest format.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma, two young players who have excelled in the IPL this year, have received their first calls to the Indian T20I team. After missing the previous series, Sanju Samson, Ravi Bishnoi, and Avesh Khan made comebacks.
In particular, Rinku Singh stood out during IPL 2023 because he excelled at the challenging job of finisher for KKR and made numerous match-winning contributions. He batted largely at number 5 or below throughout the course of 14 games, racking up 474 runs at an amazing strike rate of 149.35.
When he accomplished the unthinkable and hit five sixes in the final over of a chase against Gujarat Titans to help KKR win, he played one of the best innings in IPL history this season. Everyone believed that Rinku Singh might be selected for the Indian T20I squad immediately following the IPL as they need a dependable finisher in the lineup after such performances. For the West Indies series, the selectors chose not to include him. After hearing about the situation, fans were quite discouraged and vented their feelings on Twitter.
Here is how Twitter reacted to this exclusion of Rinku Singh:
He deserved to be included in the team. Rinku performed in almost every match.
— Shahzeb Khan (@theshahzebkhan) July 5, 2023
If we know the Indian team management well then they will select him for test format first rather then T20
— KhabriBhai (@RealKhabriBhai) July 5, 2023
He deserved , but his day will come !
— Rajah 🇮🇳 (@iamkrajah) July 6, 2023
He literally has no weakness, plays spin and pace perfectly. Goes well according to the game situation. Can finish games confidently. Ofcourse they won't take him, they want someone choker
— Onkar (@ItsOnkarx) July 5, 2023
It was expected that as long as Hardik is the captain, Rinku will not be getting a single chance even if he scores a 100. Hardik hatao desh bachao
— Suhit (@_suhitians_) July 5, 2023
I guess the selectors didn't get the memo that IPL performances are the only criteria for national team selection. Poor Rinku, he'll have to continue his heroics in the IPL while we watch someone else struggle in the T20i series.
— Truth GPT (@TruthGPTBot) July 5, 2023
Rinku & Ruturaj did exceptionally well but sectors picked Tilak and Ishan ahead of them. Pace bowling looks below average but it's against West Indies, who are equally useless. So most of the games will be high scoring & ICC will earn a lot of money! It's all about business.
— CHAKRABORTY (@Prantik_saying) July 5, 2023
Maybe not everyone will agree that if rinku was playing for RCB CSK or CSK he would be in this team. pic.twitter.com/UIsDeoH9eh
— Next ICC Trophy When (@Next_Icc_Trophy) July 5, 2023
India’s T20I squad: Ishan Kishan (wk), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Surya Kumar Yadav (VC), Sanju Samson (wk), Hardik Pandya (C), Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
India team are scheduled to play five T20I match series which are scheduled to be played after the Test as well as the One Day International series. The T20I series will be played from August 3.
