Former India opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth has expressed his disappointment with the selection of a full-strength Indian squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. The 1983 World Cup winner feels the series should have been used to test more young players instead of relying on the regular T20I squad.
India will be led by Shreyas Iyer in the Afghanistan series. The three matches are also expected to provide preparation ahead of the Asian Games 2026, where India will be aiming to retain its gold medal.
Srikkanth believes the recent setbacks in T20I cricket may have prompted the selectors to play it safe.
“After the series losses in Ireland and England, the selectors have decided not to take a chance and picked a full-strength squad for Afghanistan. They are going all guns blazing, but this is a mistake. It’s against teams like Afghanistan that you should try out youngsters. Instead, you’ve picked a full-strength squad out of fear,” he said on his YouTube channel.
India were beaten 2-0 by Ireland in their recent T20I series and then suffered a 4-0 defeat against England. The team, however, recovered strongly against Zimbabwe, completing a 3-0 series sweep.
Srikkanth also described the Afghanistan selection as a desperate response to the previous losses and pointed out that the squad is almost identical to the one picked for England.
“It feels like a desperation move after the Ireland and England losses. But this squad is almost the same as the one they picked for England,” he said.
The former cricketer further questioned the match fitness of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah and Harshit Rana, all of whom have been selected subject to fitness clearance.
“These four have not proved match-fitness. So on what basis are they subject to fitness? Just because you prove your fitness at the Bengaluru CoE, are you fit? That’s how Harshit Rana went to England, and then what happened to him there? So match-fitness is important,” Srikkanth said.
India’s squad for the Afghanistan T20Is features Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Varma (vice-captain), Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar*, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah*, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana*.
