Reports: Indian selectors didn’t bother informing players about their exclusion from Test squad

India’s Asia Cup triumph was immediately followed by a scandal that has seen few players, some willing to be quoted while some not, going against the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to reveal that the MSK Prasad-led selection committee didn’t inform them about their exclusion from the Test squad. 

Among the major names missing out of the squad were openers Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and even Rohit Sharma for that matter who was hoping to get a chance in the longest format once again. Apart from the senior players, both Karun Nair and Mayank Agarwal continued to get ignored by the selection committee. However, while the board was quick to dismiss claims of miscommunication stating that the players were spoken to, TOI has now reported that they actually didn’t.

“Someone is clearly not telling the truth here. Now, either it’s the players or it’s the selectors. If they (BCCI/CoA) want to understand this better, why not just make the captain, coach, the senior cricketers and selectors sit across the table and hear them out? It'll be immediately clear who is lying and who is not,” said sources close to the thick of things, reported TOI.

“It took a Mayank Agarwal forever to find a place in the Test squad despite all the scoring he did in the domestic circuit. But all that the selector is bothered with is in conveying that cricketers are being communicated with. That’s not the case,” added the sources.

While Tamil Nadu batsman Vijay would now be leading the India ‘A’ team to crawl his way back into the national team, Dhawan’s future in Test cricket is looking bleak. While Sharma could still make a comeback in the side, Nair has already put down in the pecking order following Hanuma Vihari’s heroics in England.