'You need to be in relationship with some Bollywood actresses' - Subramaniam Badrinath criticizes selection process after Ruturaj Gaikwad's squad snub

Ruturaj Gaikwad was in great touch during India’s recently concluded T20I tour of Zimbabwe. The right-handed batter played four games and in three innings he smashed 133 runs at an average of 33.50. He was the third-highest run-getter after Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal who played five and three innings respectively. The Chennai Super Kings captain, however, was snubbed from the upcoming white-ball tour to Sri Lanka.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), announced India’s squad for the white-ball tour on July 19 and Gaikwad was neither featured in ODI nor T20I squad. Moreover, Riyan Parag was inducted in both the formats for the series. Former India cricketer, Subramaniam Badrinath, who is also a former CSK player, showed displeasure and went on to say that only relationships with Bollywood actresses and flamboyant personalities attract selectors in picking the players.

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“Sometimes it seems like you need a bad guy image when the likes of Rinku Singh, Ruturaj Gaikwad and others are not selected for the Indian team. It seems that you need to be in a relationship with some Bollywood actresses, have a good media manager, and have body tattoos,” Badrinath said on his YouTube Channel.

BCCI’s selection leaves promising youngster ousted from squad

Talking about Parag’s debut outing for India, the right-handed batter scored just two runs in his debut game. He did not get to bat in his second appearance but managed just 22 runs in 24 balls in the third.

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Surprisingly, Abhishek Sharma, who also debuted alongside Parag, scored a blistering century in the second T20I after departing on a duck in the first game, but was overlooked for the Lankan tour. It is worth noting that Abhishek batted with a strike rate of over 200 in the Indian Premier League 2024.