“Not a single player selected from two-time champions RCB” – Sadagoppan Ramesh slams selection hypocrisy ahead of ZIM vs IND 2026 T20Is

Sadagoppan Ramesh claimed that while IPL performances are considered a criterion for selection to India’s T20I team for some players, others fail to earn call-ups despite doing well in the cash-rich league. The former India opener shared this opinion ahead of the Men in Blue’s three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.

Ramesh said that Shreyas Iyer’s appointment as captain of the T20I team and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s selection have happened on the back of their IPL performances. However, no one has been selected in the side from two-time IPL champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

“T20I selections clearly happen based on IPL performances but only for some. India’s current T20I captain Shreyas Iyer has clearly been picked based on the IPL. Yet, there is not a single player selected from two-time defending champions RCB. Similarly, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been selected based on his IPL performance but from the same IPL, they selected a Ravi Bishnoi in India’s 11 when he couldn’t even find a place in the playing 11 for his franchise in the entire second half of the IPL,” Ramesh said on his Instagram handle.

“Shedge didn’t even bowl a single over in the IPL, yet, was selected as an all-rounder for India. So this clearly shows that IPL performances are considered for some but not several others,” he added.

“The obvious metric will be picking the ten highest scorers” – Sadagoppan Ramesh slams the selection of bowlers for the Zimbabwe T20I series

Ramesh also questioned why the bowlers who were in the top 10 list in the Purple Cap race in IPL 2026 were not picked for the Zimbabwe tour, while the likes of Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav, Harsh Dubey, and Ashok Sharma, who only played a handful of matches got selected.

“If selections happen based on an exam for 104 students, the obvious metric will be picking the ten highest scorers. If we take this to the IPL, there were 104 bowlers who picked up atleast one wicket and qualified for the Purple Cap list in the 2026 season. Five of the top 10 are Indian bowlers, including Bhuvneshwar Kumar,” said Ramesh (via the aforementioned source).

“Yet, the bowlers selected for the Zimbabwe series include Harsh Dubey, who’s 47th, Ashok Sharma, who’s 55th, Yash Thakur, who’s 89th out of 104, and Mayank Yadav, who’s not even in the list. After playing three matches for India in 2024, Mayank Yadav has played only six matches,” he added.

The first T20I between India and Zimbabwe is scheduled to be played at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Thursday, July 23. The two remaining games will be played at the same venue on Saturday and Sunday.