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Of all the surprises the selectors sprung when announcing the T20 squad on Saturday, Rinku Singh’s omission stood out the most. The Uttar Pradesh batter, who was part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad, suddenly finds himself out of the reckoning.
Sources suggest that one of the influential politician who had previously backed Rinku’s inclusion in the T20 setup — even ahead of Shubman Gill at one stage — may not be in a position to exert the same influence. The development has once again fuelled discussions about how selections are shaped behind the scenes.
Officially, however, the message remains unchanged: every member of the Indian team is selected purely on merit, not on political backing or personal pull.
Sources said that Rinku has been included in most of India’s ICC event squads in recent years, despite often missing out on bilateral series. He was also a part of the Asia Cup winning team. Despite inconsistent performances over an extended period, Rinku continued to find a place in India’s T20 setup and was also part of the Champions Trophy squad under Rohit Sharma.
It is understood that when then T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav became aware of efforts to push Rinku’s case, potentially at the expense of Gill, he intervened and made his preference known. Eventually, Rinku was included in the 15-member squad for the 2026 T20 Indian team.
Now that Surya is no longer part of the leadership group and Rinku has been left out of the squad, there are murmurs within cricketing circles that the batter could find it difficult to force his way back into India’s T20 setup if he no longer enjoys the backing of the board official.
Rinku is not a player who would ordinarily need any backing to earn a place in the Indian team. He built his reputation by finishing games with remarkable ease and delivering under pressure. However, his recent form appears to have suffered, partly because he has not consistently batted in his preferred role.
Rinku also served as the vice-captain of Kolkata Knight Riders, and it was often speculated that his former mentor, Gautam Gambhir, played a key role in facilitating his entry into India’s T20 setup. Whether that perception was fair or not, his omission from the latest squad has once again reignited discussions about the factors that influence selection decisions.
Can anyone explain why two one dimensional bowlers like Harshit Rana and Ravi Bishnoi are in the Indian team? When you travel outside of India, you need bowlers who can adopt to the conditions – Fast bowlers who can adopt to pace and bounce and spinners who can actually turn the ball in any surface or are able to deceive in flight. Why these two are in the Infian team, only God and Ajit Agarkar knows?
hlo
In my view , Competition and stakes are high and will continue to do so .Politicians , coaches and captains preferences or backing may be there always including bias but overall its the performance that will count .The key question is how much backing or support or chances be continued to be given to any particular player in case of failures / poor performance and available players knocking on the doors/ high on performance and form and overally visibility cum popularity .Rinku batting position is a key factor in his overall role ,motivation etc and that has been tinkered a lot with post him joining the Indian Team . if one sees this this directly contrasts with GG vision / thought that in T20 the batting position is overated .Well that maybe the case of Rinku not making the cut .But i would back him to make a comeback and he is a a guy for the long term as the way i see it