Taking a look at why IPL sensations Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh didn’t receive India call-up for West Indies tour

The shift for the Indian T20I team had already started with Hardik Pandya serving as the unofficial skipper following the World Cup last year. Since India’s semi-final defeat in Australia, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, as well as Mohammed Shami have failed to play in a T20I. The goal has been to assemble a side of T20 specialists for the World Cup in 2019. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tilak Varma, two seasoned T20 players, received their first calls to duty for the West Indies tour, which is another huge step in the right direction for the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee. 

The composition of India’s 15-man T20I team for the T20I series was essentially as anticipated. It is now obvious that Sharma as well as Kohli have gradually stopped playing in T20Is. The likelihood of Jaiswal was undoubtedly going to be good after Rahul Tripathi failed to particularly take advantage of their possibilities and had unsatisfactory performances in IPL 2023.

Choice between Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh

The difficult decision was between Rinku Singh and Tilak Varma. Both delivered mind-blowing performances for their respective IPL franchises and play roles that are basically identical to one another. The selectors chose Tilak Varma because of his capacity to rack up runs within the top four, despite the fact that Axar Patel and skipper Hardik Pandya were already present to serve as finishers.

Since there is only one week separating the West Indies series and the Ireland T20Is, it is believed that Rinku Singh may be selected for that squad. This information comes from a PTI article. The Indian Cricket Board will also need to decide whether India will compete during the Asian Games. According to rumours, the board may send a backup team to China, which could provide Rinku Singh with another opportunity.

The T20I squad’s absence of Ruturaj Gaikwad came as more of a shock. The right-hander from Maharashtra has been playing T20 cricket for the past few years and was Chennai Super Kings’ second-highest run-scorer in the IPL 2023 final. 

There might have been two factors at issue here. First off, there was no room in the roster for a fourth opener once the selectors chose Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Ishan Kishan to serve as openers. The second justification is very comparable to Rinku’s. Ruturaj is a member of the West Indies’ Test and ODI squads, therefore he might be given consideration for both the Asian Games and the Ireland tour.