The Indian Premier League has been a great boon. It has opened up a pool of opportunities for Indian cricket as some of the finest talents get to gain exposure. But, at the same time, among all the boon that it has presented, one of the biggest banes which have come along as a package of IPL is the divide among the fans.
Such rivalry has always been great as it makes up for a great audience which is passionate about the team they support and keeps thing lively. However, sooner or later, issues related to favoring a particular bunch of names crop up, especially when the national team is being picked and the skipper also happens to be the leader of any IPL team.
Squad announcement Leads To RCB Bashing
Selectors announced the squad for the upcoming limited overs home series against Australia for the series starting September 17. Fast bowlers Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav were recalled to the squad for the first three one-day internationals whereas spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have held made to rest.
“The team for the three ODIs against Australia has been selected in line with the rotation policy of the Board and accordingly R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja have been rested,” said MSK Prasad, chairman of the senior selection committee.
The squad seemed perfect but only till a few noticed RCB men forming a sort of majority in the 16 member squad.
Four Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) players – Virat Kohli, Yuvzendra Chahal, KL Rahul and Kedar Jadhav – are now a regular part of the side and this has caused some protest mainly due to the underperformance from KL Rahul and Kedar Jadhav.
Disappointed with this approach which resulted in the exclusion of veteran stars Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, the fans on Twitter mocked the selection policy as ‘RCB quota.’
India and Australia will play five ODIs in all and three Twenty20 matches month long tour. The first three ODIs will be played in Chennai, Kolkata, and Indore before traveling to Bangalore and Nagpur for the final two games. The tour will finish with the three-match T20I series.
India squad:
Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (WK), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.