In yet another whirlwind development amid all the tensions brewing around India’s squad announcement, latest reports have stated that RR batter Riyan Parag has thrown his hat in and staked his claim to take over the middle-order batter role in the Indian squad.
Indian men’s cricket team’s Gautam Gambhir era has well and truly gotten underway with an eventful build-up to the squad announcements for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. Plenty has happened since Gambhir officially took over the charge as the India head coach following the end of Rahul Dravid’s contract.
With much deliberation brewing around the selection of new-look Indian squads, Parag’s name has also added to the mix.
According to The Indian Express, it has been understood that Rajasthan Royals middle-order batter is likely to get picked for the ODI and T20I side as well.
The reason behind the decision has to do with Parag’s all-round ability, with the batter known to roll his wrists around with the ball as well, and this has reportedly made him more attractive, in the eyes of the selectors, as a new prospect for the Indian side, which is looking to introduce and develop new faces for their side.
But, the decision might come with huge repercussions. One being that the inclusion of Parag may inadvertently lead to the exclusion of swashbuckling batter Suryakumar Yadav from the ODI squad.
Another possible outcome could be that opener Yashasvi Jaiswal may be the one sacrificed in order to bring Parag in, meaning that the spirited opener may feature only in the T20I squad.
Or in yet another possible twist, if selectors go with Riyan Parag in the ODI setup for his extra bowling option and with KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant most likely to be part of the squad, Sanju Samson’s place in the ODI setup looks in jeopardy despite the fact the he scored a 100 in the last ODI that he played in Paarl, South Africa in December 2023.
At the end of the day so far, there seems to be no clear-cut call made by the selectors just yet, as the series against Sri Lanka inches closer with every passing day, and with the Indian team expected to fly out to Sri Lanka around the 22nd of July in order to get preparations underway.
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