Harbhajan questions Chahal, Abhishek's snub for Sri Lanka tour

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has questioned spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and Abhishek Sharma's exclusion from Men in Blue's squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour.

Under new head coach Gautam Gambhir, India are scheduled to play three T20Is and three ODIs in Sri Lanka, starting on July 27. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday named the squad for both formats and named Suryakumar Yadav as the new T20 skipper after Rohit Sharma's retirement from the format.

In the T20I squad, Abhishek Sharma's exclusion was the biggest talking point, he recently made his debut against Zimbabwe and also scored a ton in his second match. He didn't find any place in either squad while Chahal, who was part of the T20 World Cup, was also dropped for the Sri Lanka tour.

On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson was only named in the T20I squad and was not included in ODIs as Rishabh Pant earned a recall after making his comeback in India colours in the T20 World Cup last month.

"Hard to understand why Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are not a part of the Indian team for Sri Lanka," Harbhajan wrote on X.

Also, India's main players returned to T20Is after being rested for the Zimbabwe tour. Harshit Rana's addition to the ODI squad was one of the notable additions in the announcement. The 22-year-old Delhi pacer earned a maiden call-up and will join his former Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Gambhir in Sri Lanka. In IPL 2024, he bagged 19 scalps in 13 matches for KKR and finished as the second-highest wicket-taker for the franchise after Varun Chakaravarthy's 21 dismissals.

India's T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.

India's ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

The first T20I between India and Sri Lanka will be played in Pallekele on July 27.

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