Former Indian Test opener Sadagopan Ramesh called out the team’s selection for the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Ramesh highlighted that Indian selectors picked the squad based on IPL performances but surprisingly didn’t pick any players from Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who won two back-to-back titles.
Players like Rajat Patidar, Devdutt Padikkal, Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar performed consistently for RCB but they were not picked in India’s T20I squad.
Ramesh noted that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel picked Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Shreyas Iyer after their impressive show in IPL 2026.
Ramesh said on his Instagram handle, “T20I selections clearly happen based on IPL performances but only for some. India’s current T20I captain Shreyas Iyer has clearly been picked based on the IPL. Yet, there is not a single player selected from two-time defending champions RCB. Similarly, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been selected based on his IPL performance but from the same IPL, they selected Ravi Bishnoi in India’s 11 when he couldn’t even find a place in the playing 11 for his franchise in the entire second half of the IPL.”
“Shedge didn’t even bowl a single over in the IPL, yet, was selected as an all-rounder for India. So this clearly shows that IPL performances are considered for some but not several others.”
The former flamboyant batter also questioned the selection of bowlers for the Zimbabwe tour, who are not among the leading wicket-takers in IPL 2026.
“If selections happen based on an exam for 104 students, the obvious metric will be picking the ten highest scorers. If we take this to the IPL, there were 104 bowlers who picked up at least one wicket and qualified for the Purple Cap list in the 2026 season. Five of the top 10 are Indian bowlers, including Bhuvneshwar Kumar,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).
“Yet, the bowlers selected for the Zimbabwe series include Harsh Dubey, who’s 47th, Ashok Sharma, who’s 55th, Yash Thakur, who’s 89th out of 104, and Mayank Yadav, who’s not even in the list. After playing three matches for India in 2024, Mayank Yadav has played only six matches.”
The first T20I between India and Zimbabwe will be played at Harare on Thursday.
