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    STUMP VISION                                                             JUNE 05, 2026     |  The Indian Eye 44

                                                                      IPL 2026

                                   Franchise Fast-Tracks and

              Sidelined Workhorses: Decoding India’s

                                           Afghanistan Selection

                   KL Rahul’s appointment as Test vice-captain has drawn criticism, with many believing

                                                  Rishabh Pant deserved leadership backing

                                                                                                                  ble to ignore: over 100 wickets at an
                                                                                                                  average of 14. Yet he failed to find a
                                                                                                                  place  in the Test squad.  This  omis-
                                                                                                                  sion raises uncomfortable questions
                                                                                                                  about the relevance of Ranji Trophy
                                                                                                                  performances, suggesting that attri-
                                                                                                                  butes like pace potential, athletic up-
                                                                                                                  side, and IPL visibility may now hold
                                                                                                                  greater value than sheer statistical
                                                                                                                  dominance in red-ball cricket.
                                                                                                                      Another contentious area has
                     ARCHAN MEHTA                                                                                 been the management of wick-
                                                                                                                  et-keeping and all-round options. KL
               ndian  cricket  selection  has  offi-                                                              Rahul’s appointment as Test vice-cap-
               cially transitioned from a game                                                                    tain has drawn criticism, with many
            Iof statistical merit to an executive                                                                 believing Rishabh Pant deserved
            talent search, where having the right                                                                 leadership backing. Meanwhile, Axar
            corporate resume matters less than                                                                    Patel has been overlooked in favor of
            catching the CEO’s eye.                                                                               Washington  Sundar,  and Moham-
                India’s  squad  selection  for  the                                                               med Shami’s omission suggests an
            upcoming series against Afghanistan                                                                   unofficial age-based transition policy
            has offered a revealing insight into   Perhaps the most worrying aspect is the uncertain future of India’s younger batters like Yash-  may already be in effect.
            the team management’s long-term              asvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Varma (ANI file photo)   Perhaps the most worrying as-
            planning ahead of the 2027 ODI                                                                        pect is the uncertain future of India’s
            World Cup. While the opposition   number three batsman and groom    pitches.                          younger batters like Yashasvi Jaiswal,
            may not carry the same intensity or   multi-dimensional all-rounders for   This  corporate,  attribute-first   Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Tilak Varma.
            public attention as a major overseas   slots six and seven to ensure balance   philosophy has heavily infected the   With  senior  stars  now  playing  even
            tour, the selectors and coaching staff   overseas.                  spin department as well. Instead of   lower-profile bilateral series, oppor-
            appear to be using this series as a cru-  One of the most contentious   rewarding the highest wicket-takers   tunities for these younger players
            cial checkpoint for shaping the next   talking points has been the selectors’   of the Ranji Trophy, the manage-  have virtually disappeared. They are
            phase of Indian cricket.          blatant  prioritization  of  IPL  flashi-  ment has plucked young left-armers   deemed  inexperienced  for  difficult
                More importantly, the selections   ness over the grueling grind of tradi-  Manav Sutar and Harsh Dubey out   overseas assignments, yet they are
            suggest a noticeable philosophical   tional domestic cricket. Tall left-arm   of the T20 ecosystem, hoping against   simultaneously denied opportunities
            shift: the era of widespread workload   quick Gurnoor Brar is perhaps the   hope that raw, white-ball prospects   in home conditions against compar-
            management and “rest culture” for   most glaring example of this shift;   can magically replicate the tactical   atively weaker opposition. Without
            senior stars appears to be fading. The   despite a meager domestic red-ball   mastery and lower-order stability   continuity, their international growth
            inclusion of stalwarts like Virat Kohli   record and a largely inconsistent,   that Ravindra Jadeja spent a decade   risks stagnating at a critical stage of
            and Rohit Sharma in a relatively   bench-warming role within the Guja-  perfecting  in  first-class  cricket.  By   their development.
            low-profile ODI assignment reinforc-  rat Titans setup, he was fast-tracked   turning the national cap into an ex-  If the selectors keep picking play-
            es the idea that the management still   into the national squad based en-  tension of an IPL contract, the selec-  ers based on corporate “potential”
            views them as indispensable pillars of   tirely on the speculative allure of his   tors are sending a damaging message   rather than domestic “performance,”
            India’s 50-over setup rather than vet-  height, pace, and bounce.   to the domestic circuit: sustained   India  might  soon  find  themselves
            erans who can be rotated casually for   Similarly, fast bowler Prince   excellence in India’s premier tourna-  with a squad full of highly visible as-
            experimentation. To future-proof the   Yadav has been catapulted into the   ments no longer matters if you don’t   sets who forgot how to close out a
            squad, India is aggressively hunting   senior setup after only a handful of   possess the right franchise visibility.  deal when the market gets tough.
            for successors to Bumrah and Jade-  eye-catching  spells  in  India  A  fix-  The exclusion of Jammu &
            ja, prioritizing raw bowling attributes   tures and the IPL, bypassing dozens   Kashmir pacer Aqib Nabi has par-  Archan Mehta is a writer dedicated
            over domestic stats. Concurrently,   of domestic workhorses who have   ticularly  intensified  those  concerns.   to telling compelling stories about
            management aims to secure a stable   spent years taking fifers on unhelpful   Nabi’s  first-class  record  is  impossi-  athletes, teams, and the world of cricket

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