"I didn't have KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant" - Harsha Bhogle names two players he thought would be part of Indian squad for SA T20Is

On Sunday, the selection committee held a meeting for the selection of the Indian squad for the series. The selection committee led by Chetan Sharma has announced an 18-member squad and has given rest to senior players. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have been given a break.

Some new faces have got the chance, but some players have been unlucky that, despite having performed well, they didn't get the opportunity. Umran Malik and Arshdeep Singh have got their maiden call-ups to the national team. The veteran wicket-keeper batsman, Dinesh Karthik, has been recalled to the team after some excellent performances in the IPL.

KL Rahul will lead the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant will be his deputy for the series. But the biggest surprise was that Rahul Tripathi and RR skipper Sanju Samson have been ignored one more time despite performing consistently in the ongoing season.

The omission of these two batters has created a lot of noise among the fans. Many cricket analysts and pundits have also looked shocked. The famous cricket commentator, Harsha Bhogle, has also shown his displeasure and shared his views on the squad announced.

In the team, I had played around with in my mind, I didn't have KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. I thought Tripathi and Sanju Samson would be in it. On Australian grounds, I still think Samson should be in a short list.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 22, 2022

Harsha has named Rahul Tripathi and Sanju Samson as candidates who should have got the time. He has also said that if the selectors were looking for a squaf for the upcoming T20I World Cup in Australia, Samson could have been the perfect choice on such a bouncy track.

Tripathi has been phenomenal for SRH as he has scored 393 runs so far at an impressive strike rate of 161.73. The RR skipper has also done well and has scored 374 runs at an average of 28.84 and a strike rate of 147.24.