The India Men's Selection Committee of the BCCI, headed by former Indian cricketer Ajit Agarkar, once again finds itself under the radar for having ignored batter Ruturaj Gaikwad from the 15-member squad for the upcoming three-match series against New Zealand.

Gaikwad played the previous ODI series for India against South Africa at home and scored a stunning century in just his second game. He did not get an opportunity to bat in the last game of the series; however, he was considered an ideal replacement for any middle-order batter after the series.

Why has Ruturaj Gaikwad been snubbed from the Indian team?

The Maharashtra batter has been struggling for a breakthrough into the Indian team for a very long time, despite his incomparable finesse and quality in domestic tournaments. The dedication of Gaikwad was witnessed by the world when he played for India in the South Africa series.

However, Gaikwad was brought in just as a replacement for the injured vice-captain of the Indian team, Shreyas Iyer, who missed the South Africa home series. However, having recovered from his injury, he has been cleared by the BCCI's CoE and has hence found his way back into the squad against New Zealand.

However, Gaikwad should have, despite Iyer's return, been handed a backup spot in the squad, as the Maharashtra batter has been in very fine touch. In his last two domestic games, he had 124 and 66 for Maharashtra. Today, he surpassed Virat Kohli to have the best List A average among Indian cricketers after having played 50+ innings.

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Ajit Agarkar, alongside BCCI selector RP Singh, was witnessing the match between Maharashtra and Mumbai, which included players like Ruturaj Gaikwad as well as Yashasvi Jaiswal. Despite this, he opted to snub Gaikwad from the team.

After the selections, a speculation has been raised questioning Agarkar's intent behind naming Yashasvi Jaiswal as a backup in the squad, despite Shubman Gill regaining complete fitness and Rohit Sharma being in no shape for an injury. Instead, Ruturaj Gaikwad would have functioned in a dual role as an opener and a middle-order batter, considering Shreyas Iyer's participation is still under doubt.

Some have cited that this is a strategy to promote Rishabh Pant's return to the Indian playing XI in ODIs. Pant remains the only batter in the squad who can be brought in for Shreyas Iyer if Iyer is not fit to play any of the games for India. With Gaikwad in the side, Gambhir would have sided with the CSK batter as his first choice.

"Absolute clown of a selection committee," Fans angered by the sudden snub of Ruturaj Gaikwad from the ODI squad