Former Indian opener Kris Srikkanth slammed the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel after the recent T20I squad was announced for the three-match T20I series. Srikkanth reckons the selection committee has picked a full-strength squad out of fear.

After winning the T20 World Cup, India was stunned by Ireland 0-2. Furthermore, they suffered a 0-4 series loss against England. Shreyas Iyer’s team won the much-needed T20I series against Zimbabwe by 3-0 to gain a bit of confidence.

Srikkanth said on his YouTube Channel, “After the series losses in Ireland and England, the selectors have decided not to take a chance and picked a full-strength squad for Afghanistan. They are going all guns blazing, but this is a mistake. It’s against teams like Afghanistan that you should try out youngsters. Instead, you’ve picked a full-strength squad out of fear.”

“It feels like a desperation move after the Ireland and England losses. But this squad is almost the same as the one they picked for England.”

Meanwhile, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana have been picked in the squad for Afghanistan series. However, the quartet selection is subject to fitness clearance.

“These four have not proved match-fitness. So on what basis are they subject to fitness? Just because you prove your fitness at the Bengaluru CoE, are you fit? That’s how Harshit Rana went to England, and then what happened to him there? So match-fitness is important,” said Srikkanth (via the aforementioned source).

“This is not a question of ability. Harshit Rana has proved to be a very good bowler in T20s, and Nitish Kumar Reddy is brilliant in the short format. But why pick them without match-fitness being proven is the question.”

The first T20I between India and Afganistan will be played at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on 13th September.