VARUN, SIRAJ'S IPL-BASED SELECTIONS CAN SET DANGEROUS PRECEDENT

The most shocking aspect of the team selection though was the inclusion of Varun Chakravarthy and Mohammed Siraj...

- SREELATA S. YELLAMRAZU

The Indian team for all formats for the much-awaited upcoming tour of Australia has been announced. Virat Kohli has been retained as captain across formats, and most of the usual suspects have found their way in the respective squads. As always, there are elements of surprise and suspense. Rohit Sharma has not been named in any of the three squads even though he remains part of the Mumbai Indians outfit in the IPL. MI even shared a video of him practising. Further, Sanju Samson finds himself in the T20I squad while KL Rahul is the only wicket-keeper in the ODI squad. Intriguingly, Rishabh Pant is only part of the Test squad.

The most shocking aspect of the team selection though was the inclusion of leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the T20I squad and pacer Mohammed Siraj in the Test squad. While one is bound to feel happy for the duo, simultaneously one also needs to question what kind of precedent the selection committee is setting by picking players based on one-off IPL performances. Neither Chakravarthy nor Siraj have done anything sensational in first-class cricket of late. So it is clear that their IPL efforts turned the tide in their favour.