Sanjiv Bhatt asks 'Why no Muslim players in Team India?' Harbhajan Singh replies

New Delhi: The Team India selection committee on Monday picked the squad for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand.

The uncapped pair of batsman Shreyas Iyer and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj were also named.

Hyderabad pace bowler Siraj, on the back of a fine Ranji Trophy and Inter-State T20 Tournament last season, was bought by IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad and took ten wickets, impressing with his pace. 

He subsequently was picked for India A's tour of South Africa where he claimed 10 wickets. Most recently, he featured for India A against New Zealand A. In 16 career T20s, the 23-year-old has 26 wickets at 18.73 and an economy rate of 7.85.

However, on Sunday night former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt questioned BCCI's selection policy by tweeting, "Why there are no Muslim players in Team India?"

क्या इस समय भारतीय क्रिकेट टीम में कोई मुस्लिम खिलाड़ी है ?

आज़ादी से आज तक ऐसा कितनी बार हुआ कि भारत की क्रिकेट... https://t.co/Nb6ufi71qX — Sanjiv Bhatt (IPS) (@sanjivbhatt) October 22, 2017

In response, Harbhajan Singh, who is known to hit back with his strong replies on Twitter, wrote that all religions are equal and all the players are Indians before being Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christians.

हिंदू मुस्लिम सिख ईसाई आपस में है भाई। क्रिकेट टीम में खेलने वाला हर खिलाड़ी हिंदुस्तानी है उसकी जात या रंग की बात नहीं होनी चाहिए (जय भारत) https://t.co/UVvSHaLJdY — Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) October 23, 2017

The Men in Blue were defeated in the first ODI of the three-match ODI series by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

The second and must-win ODI for the hosts will be played on Wednesday as the visitors lead the series 1-0.

India begin three-match T20I series from November 1 at Delhi's Feroz Shah Kotla ground.

India squad: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ashish Nehra (only for first T20I)