Indian cricket team is in a crisis of sorts; one can fault the players to a certain degree, but the buck stops with the selection committee. In the last 12 months, there have been several decisions which caused a lot of confusion. No one is trying to fault Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, but then there has to be some accountability.
Let us stick to the present to begin with; Team India is on its worst run in T20I cricket. Winless in five games, and staring glaringly at yet another series loss. Not too long ago, this very side was scoring 250-plus totals during the T20 World Cup. This very side was being built for a decade-long domination.
Batters were scoring with ease and making bowlers question their life choices. Bowlers were turning up and making opposition batters look pitiable. Five games later, theMen in Blue have lost the series to Ireland and have already lost two games to England. To make matters worse, the 125-run defeat is their heaviest in T20I history.
There is a saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” or simply put, do not tamper with something that is working perfectly well. Agarkar likes to use the word consistency during press meets while announcing squads. But consistency is something the cricketing system in India lacks, and it has been replaced with other words like Chaos and Confusion.
Curious case of T20I team
If we speak about India’s playing XI from the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand, there are four big names missing. Let us start with jasprit bumrah. The pacer was rested for the series against Afghanistan and Ireland. Couldn’t he have been included in the side for the T20I series in England? 32-year-old is set to play the ODI series, and one fears he could start rusty after having last played nearly two months ago.
Hardik Pandya, yet another key component of the T20 title win, has been asked to focus mainly on ODI Cricket. Hardik is out of action due to injury, and his heir apparent, Nitish Kumar Reddy, is also ruled out of the England tour due to a quadriceps injury. Does this mean that Pandya’s days as a T20I player are over?
One also has to look at the way Suryakumar Yadav was just cast aside. People may call it bold or look for logic behind the move, but there isn’t one. Yadav was going through a bad patch of form with the bat, which player hasn’t? His captaincy, though, cannot be faulted. He had already created a side that was ready to dominate the 20-over landscape for the next few years. SKY lost his captaincy and his spot in the team. At 35, the player is staring at uncertainty as far as his future is concerned.
Finally, Sanju Samsonwhat can we say about his misfortune? Player of the tournament in the T20I World Cup. Scores of 97*, 89, and89 in key matches that saw India win the title and over 400 runs in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings in his debut season. Everything was looking good till the UK tour happened. Six runs in three games, and the 31-year-old is back to being benched. Again, where is the consistency?
Performance is the key, or is it?
Now let us talk about performers and why it should matter in Indian cricket. Mohammed Shamiat 35, is still one of the best pacers that India has. His last appearance was during the Champions Trophy 2025 tournament. Shami picked nine wickets from five games, which also included a fifer. The pacer also picked 37 wickets from nine matches in the Ranji Trophy. Despite such numbers, the veteran is not picked in the squad.
Varun Chakravarthy is another example of the confused state of affairs seen in Indian cricket. The spinner, just like Shami, picked nine wickets in the Champions Trophy with a fifer against New Zealand and was discarded. No explanations given, no reasons stated, just a long-gone memory. Honestly, how many of you remember Varun even playing the tournament?
Where did they come from?
The upcoming tour of Zimbabwe is seen as a ‘Mission 2028’ plan, and the squad has some interesting names. Harsh Dubey’s selection is understandable; Prabhsimran Singh’s selection is justified. What about Mayank Yadav and Yash Thakur? The latter one can make a case as one of the wicket takers in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament.
Mayank Yadav’s selection is a curious case. The 24-year-old played four games in the IPL this year for Lucknow. The wickets column bore a bare look, and he hadn’t played any cricket before the IPL season or since. Mayank’s last international match was in October 2024. Now, let us ask a question: where did he play domestic cricket of any sort to merit selection?
Isn’t it the same criteria imposed on other players? Play domestic matches to be in contention for a spot in the national side. If this rule had indeed been followed, we could have very well seen Auqib Nabi Dar run into the bowl with the new ball against Afghanistan. Ah well! Who’s keeping count?
Why does the road ahead look bumpy?
It is not all gloom under Agarkar’s reign as chairman of selectors; the team has won two T20 World Cups and one Champions Trophy title. In that process, they have also seen two captains being axed, but that’s a different story. Rohit Sharma was axed as the ODI skipper and Shubman Gill was given charge, just like Shreyas Iyer was handed the T20I captaincy baton.
The word consistency has to be highlighted once again. Selectors need to be consistent in picking players. Reports of cricketers potentially losing their spot in the side or likely to be dropped for the next series are not going to help the cause. Communication has to be done effectively. If a cricketer is to make the side via performance, then look at the numbers.
Several talented players are being overlooked or discarded. Shock value system doesn’t work in cricket and certainly will not in India. Again, “If ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This Indian side, at least in the white-ball format, didn’t need any change; it was supposed to be a continuation of a journey rather than marking the end for some.
The next 30 months are very crucial for Indian cricket; there is the 2027 ODI World Cup, the LA Olympics, and the 2028 T20 World Cup. There is also the Test format, which needs to be closely looked at. Discarded players are still performing and have numbers to back it up. It is still not too late for the selectors to go back to the drawing board and rethink their choices. Ajit Agarkar was pretty much part of the system when Greg Chappell’s chaos and confusion reigned supreme. He has to make sure that he sorts the house in order and helps the team get back to its best.
Can they? Will they?
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