‘Indian cricket is a circus’ – Fans rip apart team management for dropping Iyer and Bishnoi in 2nd T20I against SA

Shreyas Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi. (Photo Source: BCCi)

India’s tour of South Africa finally got underway as the two teams locked horns in the second T20I on Tuesday, December 12 at St George’s Park, Gqeberha. South Africa captain Aiden Markram won the toss and invited India to bat first. The Men in Blue made a few surprising changes to their XI as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi didn’t feature in it.

Gaikwad was the leading run scorer of the recent five-match T20I series against Australia with 223 runs to his name from five innings which also included a magnificent 123* off 57 during third T20I in Guwahati. The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) gave an update on Gaikwad’s unavailability while announcing the playing XI on their X handle and revealed that the opening batter was unavailable for selection due to illness.

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However, the fans were still baffled by the exclusions of Ravi Bishnoi and Shreyas Iyer.

Notably, Iyer was the vice-captain of the side in the series against Australia and even scored a brilliant half-century (53 off 37) in the last game. The 29-year-old also had a brilliant ODI World Cup 2023 finishing as the seventh-highest run scorer in the tournament with 530 runs to his name from 11 innings.

Ravi Bishnoi was the Player of the series against Australia

On the other hand, Bishnoi was the Player of the series against Australia as he finished as the leading wicket-taker across five matches having nine scalps to his name.

The wrist-spinner was even rewarded in the bowlers’ T20I rankings after his stellar show as he climbed to the top of the table.

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The 23-year-old spinner has scalped 34 wickets in 21 T20Is so far at an average of 17.38 and an economy of 7.14. Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav replaced Bishnoi in the playing XI for the second T20I while Tilak Varma was chosen ahead of Iyer.

Meanwhile, X was abuzz with reactions on Bishnoi and Iyer’s exclusion from the playing XI. Here are some of the posts: