Aakash Chopra questions Umran Malik's exclusion from all recent Indian squads

Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has questioned Umran Malik’s exclusion from all recent Indian squads, including the India A sides. However, Umran is not a part of the 16-member Indian squad for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan. He wasn’t even picked for the recently concluded multi-format tour of South Africa, not even the India A side or the intra-squad practice games as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Till some time back, Umran Malik was everywhere. We took him to the West Indies as well and it seemed like he could be in the World Cup team too but now he is not there in any of the teams. He doesn’t even get selected for India A.”

The former India opener again shared: “What happened within three months that a guy first gets selected for the Indian team, gets very minimum chances there, and then goes totally missing? We don’t even know where Umran Malik is. Why isn’t he there? We should know why this is happening.”

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However, Umran Malik registered impressive figures of 2/9 in 2.1 overs in his last T20I against New Zealand in February last year. However, he had a poor run in IPL 2023 and proved expensive in the two ODIs he played on the West Indies tour as well, and he hasn’t been picked after that as well. And, Aakash Chopra was surprised by Shreyas Iyer’s non-selection for the T20I series against Afghanistan as well.

“When I look at theelectionelection, I see Shreyas Iyer. There was a five-match series immediately after the World Cup, so he was rested for the first two or three matches but then he joined the team as a vice-captain. He scored a fifty in the last match against Australia as well. It was a match-winning knock,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “Then he went to South Africa as well but now he is not in the team. Why is he not there? If he was a part of your team, what happened to him now, suddenly? What will you tell Shreyas Iyer, that why hasn’t he been picked?”

However, Chopra also said that the Indian Team are yet to finalize their premier spinners. He said that the selectors are confused between Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja. He further added that they are yet to figure out their first-choice wrist-spinner between Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi as well.