Suryakumar Yadav’s match-winning knock of 79 not out in 43 balls on Wednesday night against Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bangalore has set the internet on fire. While many slammed the Indian cricket board for not selecting Yadav for the upcoming tour of Australia, others dug out a clip from the last night’s match implying that the Mumbai Indians batsman had refused to speak to Kohli on the ground in frustration with his exclusion from the national side.
Yadav was ignored by the BCCI selectors, who announced the team for the Test, ODI and T20 series against Australia starting 27 November. This despite his consistent performance with the bat in the ongoing IPL competition, where he’s scored 362 runs in 12 matches including three fifties. Many failed to understand why an out-of-form player like Ravindra Jadeja could find a place in the team for all the three formats of the game despite his relatively dismal performance in this year’s IPL, where he’s scored just 202 runs in 12 matches.
Many fans held Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli responsible for Yadav’s exclusion from the Australia tour. They shared a video clip from the last night’s match where Kohli was seen approaching Yadav to talk but the latter appeared to snub the Indian captain. This, according to many, was Yadav’s way of expressing his frustration at Kohli for his exclusion.
It’s clear that SKY is frustrated with team selection !! Yes Kohli should’ve pushed selectors to pick him but on other side, it’s more of selectors decision. No need to show his pain to Kohli on field !! https://t.co/yvDsdLT9Go
— V I P E R™ (@Offl_TheViper) October 28, 2020
A message to the Selectors by #SuryakumarYadav – pic.twitter.com/bywqt7UPI3
— Memesahaab MI (@memesahaab) October 28, 2020
Tight Slap to the Selectors
Love this Reaction ?#SuryakumarYadav ?#MIvsRCB pic.twitter.com/urXr5m5Ivd— ?? (@Harshatweetz) October 28, 2020
what a slap by suryakumar yadav to @BCCI selectors and captain @imVkohli for not considering in indian team..#keepgoingSKY pic.twitter.com/hFoWT42SeD
— अमोल हरीशचंद्र मानकर (@amolmankarAUT) October 28, 2020
Missed MI’s batting but god this is so good, so so good. The selectors and captain picked Samshit and Iyer ahead of him ffs https://t.co/HYFMpDW3UQ
— Vibhor (@VibhorDaga) October 28, 2020
Yadav’s exclusion from the national team has also left many ex-cricketers puzzled. Harbhajan Singh had recently tweeted, “Don’t know what else @surya_14kumar needs to do get picked in the team india.. he has been performing every ipl and Ranji season..different people different rules I guess @BCCI I request all the selectors to see his records.”
Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris tweeted after Yadav’s last night’s match-winning knock, “I wonder if Suryakumar Yadav fancies playing International cricket he might move overseas.” Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody too wondered, “Hard to understand how he’s missed both white-ball teams?”
Here are the teams announced by the BCCI for the Australia tour:
Team India T20I squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (vice-captain and wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy
Team India ODI squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur
Team India Test squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Shami, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Mohd. Siraj