Former India batsman S Badrinath has sharply criticized the selectors for their choices in the squads announced for Team India’s upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Scheduled to play three ODIs and as many T20Is, the series starts later this month. The BCCI revealed the squads earlier this week, and despite expectations of changes, the selectors have still managed to surprise many.

One of their decisions causing disappointment is the exclusion of Ruturaj Gaikwad from the T20I squad. Gaikwad, who recently featured in the T20I series against Zimbabwe and performed admirably, has been overlooked, prompting criticism from various quarters.

Ruturaj Gaikwad, hailing from Maharashtra, showcased his batting prowess in the recent series against Zimbabwe by amassing 133 runs across 3 innings, notably remaining unbeaten on 49 and scoring 77 in other outings. Prior to this international stint, Gaikwad had already left a mark in the IPL, where he captained the Chennai Super Kings. During the tournament, he emerged as the second-highest run-getter with an impressive tally of 583 runs, which included a century and four half-centuries. His consistent performances have underscored his potential at the top level of cricket.

S Badrinath slams selectors:

Even though Ruturaj Gaikwad has performed well in the T20s, the selectors decided to ignore him for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. And the decision has not gone down well with S Badrinath.

In a video that is doing the rounds on social media, the former Tamil Nadu stalwart took a dig at the selectors, saying that the players can achieve big things in Indian cricket only if they maintain a bad-boy image and manage to stay in the news.

“When I see players like Ruturaj, Rinku missing out I feel like players need a bad boy image. You either should be in a relationship with 2-3 actresses or get tattoos or you should always be in the news or get a good PR manager, only then you’ll go high in Indian cricket,” said Badrinath.

Badrinath’s criticism regarding Rinku Singh was directed at his omission from the T20 World Cup squad despite his impressive performances in T20 cricket, including at the international level.

Looking ahead, the bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka will commence with a three-match T20I series starting on July 27. Following the T20Is, the focus will shift to the ODIs, which are set to begin on August 2.