The teams for India’s upcoming series against South Africa were recently announced. Team India will visit South Africa this month for a multi-format series. They are scheduled to play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests against the Proteas.
There weren’t too many surprises in the squads. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been rested for the white-ball series but will play the Test series. With Hardik Pandya out due to an ankle injury, KL Rahul will lead the ODI side while Suryakumar Yadav will lead the T20I side. However, former India batsman Aakash Chopra believes Bhuvneshwar Kumar is a notable omission from the team.
The former cricketer-turned-commentator stated that not being picked for South Africa is not good news for the veteran pacer. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, one of the country’s most experienced T20 bowlers, has not played an international match since November last year when India toured New Zealand for a T20I series.
“You and I will not decide his career because we are not the selectors, and who are we to say if it is over or if there is a long career left? Things are not looking good in the current scenario. Looks like a hurdle has come,” Aakash Chopra, former Indian cricket team opener, said on his YouTube channel.
“You’re not getting opportunities. You had a decent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and also a decent IPL but you won’t be picked anywhere. “It was decided a long time ago that they would not pick him in ODIs, but now they will not pick him for T20Is either.”
Aakash Chopra fears the worst for Bhuvneshwar Kumar:
Also, Aakash Chopra said that the selectors could have decided to drop Bhuvneshwar Kumar and try other youngsters. He also praised the strength of India’s bench as the team management has several useful options to try.
“So it seems that the selectors have started to look in other directions and there are options. It is actually a commendable thing about Indian cricket that you always have so many options available that you say you can go with someone else,” said Aakash Chopra.
“So Mukesh Kumar, Avesh Khan, Deepak Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and then you forget about Umran Malik, with whom you played matches four months ago. This is the reality of Indian cricket. So in Bhuvi’s case, you already understand the trend,” he added.
Meanwhile, the T20I series will kick off India’s tour of South Africa. The three-match series will begin on December 10.
