‘Drop Yashasvi Jaiswal and Pick Rinku Singh’ – 1983 World Cup Winner Criticizes India’s T20 World Cup Selection

Former cricketer K. Srikkanth has criticized the Indian selection committee’s decision to exclude Rinku Singh from the ICC T20 World Cup squad, calling it “rubbish” and a clear case of scapegoating.

Despite Rinku Singh‘s outstanding strike rate of 176 in 15 T20I matches for India and his several match-winning contributions, he has been overlooked for the main squad of the T20 World Cup 2024.

Srikkanth believes that Rinku Singh’s consistent performances and ability to turn the tide in crucial situations would have been beneficial to Team India.

Here’s what Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel:

“I am not at all happy. C’mon, all of you. Rinku Singh has been talked about all over the world. He has performed in each and every opportunity he has got. How can you drop Rinku Singh? You drop anyone else, it doesn’t matter. In my view, Rinku Singh should have been there, even if that meant you had to drop Yashasvi Jaiswal,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.

Srikkanth also questioned the rationale behind selecting four spinners while dropping a high-impact batter like Rinku Singh. He also criticized the BCCI for favouritism in the selection process.

“He has played match-winning knocks in South Africa. Remember the game against Afghanistan in which Rohit scored a hundred? India were 22 for 4, from there, they scored 212. Rinku played a crucial knock. He has given his all whenever he played for India. This is rubbish, rubbish selection. Why do you need 4 spinners? All of them have to go? You have made the selection to please a few people and you have made Rinku Singh a scapegoat,” Srikkanth added.

India Squad for T20 World Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Hardik Pandya (Vice Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj.

Reserves: Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Avesh Khan.