Hard to understand why Chahal, Samson, Abhishek are not in Indian team for Sri Lanka tour: Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh has raised questions on Indian selection panel's decision to drop the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, and Abhishek Sharma from their respective formats for the upcoming white-ball tour of Sri Lanka.

India are scheduled to play three T20Is and as many ODIs in the Island Nation. Earlier this week, the BCCI announced the squads for the two formats and a few surprising calls have garnered criticism from the cricket fraternity.

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One of the most criticised calls has been the exclusion of Samson from the 50-over squad. The wicketkeeper-batter scored a century in his last ODI appearance against South Africa in Paarl in December 2023. Meanwhile, Abhishek, who made his international debut in the recent T20I series against Zimbabwe, smashed a sparkling century in just his second game. However, he was axed from the T20I side.

Another surprising exclusion was that of the experienced Chahal. The leg-spinner was a part of India's T20 World Cup-winning squad last month. However, he didn't get a game. The diminutive cricketer has not been picked in either of the squads.

"Hard to understand why Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are not a part of the Indian team for Sri Lanka," Harbhajan Singh posted after the squad selection for the Sri Lanka series.

Gautam Gambhir's reign starts in Sri Lanka

India's new head coach Gautam Gambhir's first assignment at the helm is going to be in Sri Lanka. The former India cricketer has taken over from Rahul Dravid, who led the Men in Blue to the T20 World Cup title last month.

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The first T20I is set to be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Pallekele on Saturday, July 27. The second and third T20Is will be held at the same venue on July 28 and 30. Following the completion of the T20 leg, the ODI series will take place at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. The three games will be played on August 2, 4, and 7, respectively.