Suryakumar is a brilliant player, but he will have to be patient, opines Devang Gandhi

Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav had a cracker of a run in the IPL 2020, where he played match-winning innings to take his team over the line on multiple occasions. However, even after delivering consistent performances, he was not selected for India’s tour of Australia, which raised quite a few eyebrows with some even criticizing the move to not keep the Mumbaikar in the squad. 

With a different take on this topic, former India selector Devang Gandhi insisted that the Indian team selection process is about exclusion, and there no one who could have been dropped from the squad to make way for the Mumbaikar. He opined that SKY is a brilliant player, but he will have to wait for his opportunities. 

“I would request the experts that while they are talking about Suryakumar’s exclusion, they should also tell us who should have been kept out. India has a huge bench strength and the selection process is often about exclusion. There can be four equally good players for one slot. Obviously, you have to keep some talented players out. Suryakumar is a brilliant player, but he will have to be patient. He must keep performing. Mayank Agarwal is one batsman who barged into the squad, consistently performing well,” Gandhi said as quoted by TOI. 

Talking about the much controversial decision to not include Ambati Rayudu in the World Cup after being India’s trusted number 4 for almost a year, Gandhi insisted that it was a mistake on part of the selectors. He pointed out that Rayudu’s absence became a big talking point because India had one bad day in the semi-final. 

“Yes, that was a mistake, but then we are humans too. At that time we seemed to have hit the right combination, but later we realised Rayudu’s presence might have helped. Actually, India had one bad day in office during the World Cup and that’s why Rayudu’s absence became such a big talking point. Apart from that one match, India had an excellent tournament. I can understand Rayudu’s angst and his reactions were justified,” he said.

Gandhi further added that he did have debates and discussions over the inclusion of players in the squad with skipper Virat Kohli and the selectors had to convince the skipper regarding the player’s skills. 

“Yes, we had differences and we would debate, discuss, and come to a consensus. There have been times when Kohli has asked us what we have seen in a particular player. We had to convince him that the concerned player has the skills to play for India,” he added.