Three factors which prove Gautam Gambhir's involvement in India squad selection for Sri Lanka series

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India squads for the Sri Lanka tour released on Thursday threw a lot of surprises as big names were found missing from the white-ball tour. Even though the magnanimity of Hardik Pandya not being named the new T20I captain overshadowed all the other points of discussions, a few big omissions could not be overlooked.

Many wondered if newly-appointed India coach Gautam Gambhir had a role to play in these decisions. While some argued that it could not have been possible for Gambhir to pick these big decisions in his very first assignment as the head coach of the Indian cricket team, others came to the conclusion that strong-headed Gambhir sitting back and not putting forward his opinion was also very unlikely.

In the article, let's have a look at three factors which prove why Gautam Gambhir had a definite involvement in picking the India squads for the Sri Lanka white-ball series of three T20I and ODI matches each.

• Harshit Rana selection, and Shreyas Iyer comeback: KKR pacer Harshit Rana wasn't considered for the Zimbabwe T20Is. He was a late inclusion in the squad for the first two T20Is due to the late arrival of Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal in Zimbabwe.

However, the Delhi pacer has got his ODI call-up under Gambhir, also a former Delhi player and the mentor of KKR in IPL 2024. There is no doubt that Harshit Rana flourished under Gambhir at KKR, but so did a few other pacers playing for other franchises.

Also, Shreyas Iyer has got a comeback opportunity for the first time after being axed from BCCI's central contracts list. The KKR captain and Ishan Kishan were dropped from the list after they did not play Ranji Trophy matches. Shreyas Iyer has made his comeback, but Ishan Kishan's wait continues.

• Top CSK stars snubbed: This one is a very debatable point, but worth discussing, especially from a fans point of view. While Shreyas and Rana are in the ODI squad, CSK stars Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ravindra Jadeja have not found places in any of the two squads.

Gaikwad did well on the Zimbabwe tour, while Jadeja has been a regular in the ODIs - just like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The management backed him despite his poor run in the T20 World Cup as Jadeja played all the matches. He announced his retirement alongside Rohit and Kohli after India won the T20 World Cup 2024.

However, Kohli and Rohit have been picked for the ODI fixtures but not Jadeja. Instead, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Riyan Parag have been picked as the three spin-bowling all-rounders in the team.

Gaikwad's absence has shocked many. Both Jadeja and Gaikwad are known to be very close to former India captain MS Dhoni. A lot has been written about the relation between Dhoni and Gambhir in the past.

• Suryakumar Yadav's T20I captaincy: The world number two T20I batter played under Gambhir at KKR. Also, Gambhir has made it clear that hard working players ready to commit for the nation will be preferred. Gambhir also said he isn't a fan of injury-management and players restricting them to desired formats.

Suryakumar Yadav was named the T20I captain after a selection meeting was postponed on Wednesday. Reports also emerged that a virtual meeting was held between Gambhir, selectors and BCCI secretary Jay Shah as the two-time world champion gave his blueprint for the future of Indian cricket team. He also talked about his preferred composition for the India squads for the Sri Lanka tour.

The head coach had also urged Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to make themselves available for the three ODIs, and the senior players did exactly that. Meanwhile, a report also revealed that Hardik asked BCCI to not pick him for thr Sri Lanka ODIs. Gambhir's involvement in India squad selection looks more and more when the dots are connected.