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The BCCI recently announced a fairly strong Indian squad to face Bangladesh in three T20Is next month. The opening game will commence on Sunday, October 6 in Gwalior.
Suryakumar Yadav will lead a contingent that features three uncapped players - Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana and Mayank Yadav. All three are hugely exciting picks with an eye on the future, with the Men in Blue keen on identifying the right talent to take them forward in the new T20I era.
India’s squad for the 3 T20Is against Bangladesh: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav.
At the same time, however, there were a few names who arguably deserved to be in the mix. On that note, here are three players who were unlucky to miss out on India's squad for the Bangladesh T20I series.
#3 Avesh Khan
Avesh Khan was one of the better death bowlers in the 2024 Indian Premier League while playing for the Rajasthan Royals. As one of the few pacers in the country who can offer all-phase prowess, he has been in and around all the squads lately.
However, Avesh finds himself out of the squad for the Bangladesh T20I series. This is despite the fast bowler having picked up six wickets in his last assignment in the format, which was against Zimbabwe in July.
India have picked three specialist fast bowlers and three pace-bowling all-rounders. While it's hard to doubt any of the picks, Avesh was certainly unfortunate to miss out.
#2 Tilak Varma
Tilak Varma spent a long time on the sidelines during and after the 2024 Indian Premier League with injury, but he's now fit and available for selection. He recently played in the Duleep Trophy, even slamming a second-innings hundred in his first game against India D.
However, Tilak seems to have disappeared from the Indian picture, having not been named in the last few squads. The youngster is one of India's most promising white-ball talents, with 20 caps already to his name.
Tilak can consider himself unlucky to have not been selected in a second-string squad that is already without a good chunk of the side's first-choice T20I playing XI.
#1 Ruturaj Gaikwad
Unlike the other two on this list, this is probably a move influenced by the Irani Trophy. Ruturaj Gaikwad will lead the Rest of India side against Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy champions.
However, it's safe to say that international cricket generally takes precedence over domestic assignments, irrespective of format. Had he been in the selectors' thoughts, Gaikwad should've likely been picked as India's secondary opener alongside Abhishek Sharma.
Even in a series where Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been rested, Gaikwad hasn't been given a chance to secure a place in the first-choice side. With the Irani Trophy being in one of his unfavorable formats and without much context, he would've stood more to gain from being part of the T20Is against Bangladesh.
