Take a deep breath: Not every omission is an injustice, and not every selection is a conspiracy

There are times when you need to stop whatever you’re doing, sit down calmly and take a deep breath.

The Indian team squad announcements definitely provide some of these occasions. With Ajit Agarkar having just departed as chief selector and the hunt for his successor underway, India have named its merry band of travellers to New Zealand, and the outrage is bubbling over.

It’s hard to understand how Kuldeep Yadav, who was dropped after the first Test in Sri Lanka on India’s last assignment, gets picked when Manav Suthar, the left-arm spinner who was the stand-out slow bowler on either side, doesn’t.


It’s difficult to stomach that Anshul Kamboj is back in the mix after he was axed thanks to a forgettable debut in Manchester in 2025, in place of Aaqib Nabi, who has such terrific Ranji numbers and did not get a chance in the playing eleven.

It’s tough to square off the fact that Yashasvi Jaiswal does not fit into the ODI squad, that Gurnoor Brar won’t push for a Test spot, that Sarfaraz Khan is omitted again.

Now for that deep breath.

In the two Tests in New Zealand, India’s first spinner is Ravindra Jadeja. If they need a second, Washington Sundar adds batting depth, and the third spinner carries drinks.

Suthar is much better served playing whatever domestic cricket he can at the time, with a five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy to come, in which he will play a pivotal role.

Jasprit Bumrah leads the pace attack, with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna alongside him, backed up by Nitish Kumar Reddy. Nabi never had a chance of getting in the eleven, even in favourable conditions.

With Gurnoor, the sensible long-view has been taken, challenging him to hone his ODI skills because a tall, hit-the-deck bowler will be gold dust in the 50-over World Cup in South Africa. Jaiswal is not in the ODI team because he will be preparing for the Tests through three four-day matches for India A against New Zealand A. And Sarfaraz will be better for match time back home, even if the sightseeing in New Zealand is pretty.

The selection committee, currently chaired by Pragyan Ojha, thanks to him having the most Test caps of the four in harness, has done something that sucks the oxygen out of the conspiracy theories.

They have maintained consistency in selection. They have balanced the immediate desperation for two wins in New Zealand, needed to keep India’s World Test Championship hopes alive, with bigger long-term goals.

From the outside, some of their calls may appear baffling, but when you peel the onion you realise the tears for those omitted are false, because the selectors, working with Gautam Gambhir and the captain, have actually done what they can to be responsible caretakers of Indian cricket.

This does not guarantee success, but a robust process, a philosophy you can get behind, and logic borne out by data are a guaranteed way to build trust within the ecosystem. Players who have been left out will no doubt feel the sting of rejection, and who doesn’t want to be part of the Indian squad?

But when they think about why they find themselves elsewhere, out in the middle doing what they do best while wondering what the score is in Wellington, they will realise someone was looking out for their interests without shortchanging the Indian team.

Much of the drama in Indian cricket is reduced to personalities. There’s Gambhir with his stubborn views, Shubman Gill trying to establish himself as a leader and the selectors, whose views are often ignored.

Pitting one against the other, even if only in imagination, is a temptation few can resist. This ignores the basic commonality that they share: all of them want the best for Indian cricket, because that is in their blood, but also because those results are what they are judged by, what their job security depends on and the legacy they are building.

In Indian cricket, it is hard to give people the benefit of the doubt because it always appears as though someone has been wronged. But the nature of the beast is that every feel-good story is backed up by exponentially more near misses, heartbreaks and what-ifs. So many good, even great, cricketers have been wounded and scarred by the system in the past that it is hard to accept any decisions in good faith.

Which is why it is a good idea to take a deep breath and save the outrage for when it matters, because that time may not be too far away.