There was much drama over the selection of the New Zealand-bound India squad when it was thought to be a formality.
According to a member of the selection committee, the squads had been finalised by early evening but the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) delayed the announcement till late evening.
It was only after 10.30pm that the squad for the five T20Is were announced; nothing was said officially about the Test and ODI squads.
With Hardik Pandya already ruled out of the tour after failing to regain fitness, the selectors’ task had become easier. It was however learnt that a debate over the selection of a very senior India cricketer for the one-day side might have forced the BCCI to delay the announcement of the New Zealand-bound squads on Sunday.
The BCCI brass was busy with the annual awards at the Taj Mahal Hotel and officially that is being cited as the reason for the delay.
Meanwhile, after much delay the BCCI has zeroed in on Gautam Gambhir and Madanlal as Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) members. The immediate task of the CAC will be to appoint MSK Prasad and Gagan Khoda’s replacement in the selection committee.
The T20I squad: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant (WK), Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.
