Former Indian cricketer and commentator Kris Srikkanth has slammed the national selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, for selecting the all-rounder Vipraj Nigam for the upcoming one-off T20I vs Japan and the Asian Games 2026 in Japan.
For the unversed, Vipraj has been named as Varun Chakravarthy’s replacement, which didn’t go down well with Srikkanth. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the former Indian selector questioned the selection committee on what basis he has been picked in the squad.
“How did Vipraj Nigam get into the squad out of nowhere? On what basis has he been picked? Is he such a great bowler to be picked as a like-for-like for Varun Chakaravarthy? You can’t dish out the Indian cap like this to everyone. It’s like you can purchase an Indian cap in a shop now,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) stars Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar have put up consistent performances in the IPL. However, Srikkanth has expressed his disappointment over these players not getting their chances.
“What wrong have Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar done in life? Some of these selections are baffling. Age cannot be the only decider, as it seems to be with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Krunal Pandya. It’s also about capability and performance,” said Srikkanth.
“The younger players have to push these guys out through performances. But have Yash Thakur or Ravi Bishnoi done that through performances? Definitely not. These guys don’t even fit into the 11 for IPL teams,” he concluded.
India’s updated squad for the Japan T20I & the Asian Games: Shreyas Iyer (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma (VC), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yash Thakur, Vipraj Nigam.
