Do You Need Bollywood Connection And Tattoos To Play For India? Ex-Indian Cricketer Blasts Selection Committee After Ruturaj Snub

Former cricketer S Badrinath criticized the Indian selection committee for overlooking Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh despite their performances, suggesting that players need media hype and a "bad guy" image to secure consistent selection.

The abundance of talent in Indian cricket often makes it hard for players to secure a permanent spot in the national team. Rinku Singh missed out on the T20 World Cup 2024 due to tough competition, and Ruturaj Gaikwad was left out of the team for the tour of Sri Lanka. Both players have performed well but were still not selected due to team combinations and preferences for different types of players. This has led to disappointment among fans and former players.

Former India and Chennai Super Kings batter S Badrinath expressed his frustration over these selection decisions. In a social media video, Badrinath criticized the selection committee and said he was shocked that Gaikwad wasn't picked for the Sri Lanka series.

Badrinath's comments showed his displeasure at seeing Gaikwad, the current captain of his former franchise, being overlooked despite his excellent performances. He even suggested that players might need to have certain "bad guy" traits, like relationships with Bollywood actresses and body tattoos, to get consistently selected.

"Sometimes it seems like you need a bad guy image when players like Rinku Singh and Ruturaj Gaikwad are not selected for the Indian team. It seems you need to be in a relationship with some Bollywood actresses, have a good media manager, and have body tattoos," Badrinath said in the video.

Ruturaj was part of the Indian team for the Zimbabwe T20Is, scoring 7, 77, and 49 before being rested for the 5th T20I as India had already won the series. He was not named in the T20I squad for the Zimbabwe tour, with selectors choosing Yashasvi Jaiswal instead, while Suryakumar Yadav and Rishabh Pant also returned to the team. Rinku Singh, however, was picked in the squad.

India's T20 And ODI Squad For Srilanka Tour

ODI Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Riyan Parag, Axar Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshit Rana.

T20I Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, Riyan Parag, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sanju Samson (WK), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Mohd. Siraj.