“Ex-India opener baffled by BCCI’s stance on Iyer, vice-captain for Australia series but dropped vs Afghanistan?”

BCCI's position about Iyer, the vice-captain for the Australia series

Whether it's due to poor workload management, injuries to important players, prioritising a specific format over a longer-term objective, or just a simple lack of reasoning, Indian cricket has been characterised by inconsistent selection practises throughout the past few years. Every time a side for a specific format is revealed, some players unexpectedly return, while others are left out with little explanation. Most of the time, it's because of issues with managing workload or injuries, but occasionally, one is left scratching his head. Consider the Indian team for the T20I series against Afghanistan, which begins on January 11.

The news of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli playing in the shorter format for the first time since their T20 World Cup 2022 semi-final defeat to England was well reported, but there were a few noteworthy omissions that also warrant discussion. Aakash Chopra, the former opener for India, emphasised a couple of them.

The most noteworthy one is the peculiar situation involving Shreyas Iyer. Throughout 2023, the right-hander was not part of the T20I squad; however, he was part of the squad for the final two games of the home series against Australia in December, leading the team as vice captain. A berth in the XI should have been assured with his 53 in the final Twenty20 International in Bengaluru. However, it wasn't. Despite being selected for a three-match T20I series against South Africa, Iyer was not given a chance to play.

As for the Afghanistan series, Iyer is no longer on the team. "Iyer was put forward to lead the T20i series against Australia in five matches as vice captain. was included in the team against SA as well. finds no place in the squad against Afghanistan," Chopra posted on X, the defunct Twitter platform.

Iyer clearly struggles with pace and bounce in red-ball cricket, but it can't be the reason he is excluded from the Twenty20 Internationals. The fact that Rohit and Kohli are back is undoubtedly one argument to include Iyer. There really isn't much room for Iyer if they finish in the top three, but shouldn't the selectors have considered this before summoning Iyer back for the home series against Australia, especially as vice captain?

Another worry for Team India lately has been balancing their leadership responsibilities. Too many captains and the practice of offering vice captaincy to even younger players hasn't done anything to improve Indian cricket. The absence of a captain is said to be one of the main causes of Rohit's return in Twenty20 Internationals. Since the previous T20 World Cup, Hardik Pandya has served as India's unofficial T20I, but his brittle physique and propensity for injuries have forced India to start over from scratch.

Iyer's situation wasn't the only unusual one. For the Afghanistan series, Shivam Dube was added back to the Twenty20 International team. Strangely, none of the white-ball sides in the South Africa trip included the seam-bowling all-rounder, who featured in the home series against Australia and was one of the choices when Hardik was unavailable.

"Dube was included in the team for the home match against Australia. was not chosen for the SA. In the lineup against AFG.

And Ishan Kishan, where is he? Any updates regarding his availability?" Chopra enquired.

However, Kishan is said to be taking a sabbatical because to "mental fatigue". For the same reasons, he was also cut from the South Africa series Test squad.