Former India wicket-keeper batsman Deep Dasgupta has called Arjuna Ranatunga’s ‘B team’ comment for Team India disrespectful. The former Sri Lanka captain had recently said the Indian team management sending a second-string side to face Sri Lanka in the upcoming limited-overs series was an insult to Sri Lankan cricket. His comments created a stir on social media.
With the likes of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, and others currently with the Indian Test squad in England, Shikhar Dhawan will be leading a young Indian side in Sri Lanka. Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be acting as his deputy on the tour.
A number of white-ball regulars like Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar, Dhawan, Deepak Chahar, and Surykumar Yadav among others are part of the squad for the Sri Lanka tour. Reacting to Ranatunga’s comments, Dasgupta has said calling the Indian team a ‘B’ side is disrespectful and it means the players selected are not being given due respect.
“This particular statement is not fair. I do understand that some of the top players like Virat, Rohit, Bumrah, Pant aren’t there. But if you take them out of the equation, you see most of the players in Sri Lanka are capped players. By no stretch of the imagination I would call it a ‘B’ side,” Dasgupta said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“Secondly, calling a national side a ‘B’ side is disrespectful. If you are representing your country, then calling that side a ‘B’ side is disrespectful. It means you aren’t giving those players due respect and you are pulling them down. Also, most of the capped players will play the matches, apart from someone like a Varun Chakravarthy who is uncapped,” he added.
There are a number of capped players in India’s squad for the Sri Lanka ODI and T20I series, showcasing the country’s incredible bench strength at present. Sri Lanka will be heading into the series on the back of a 3-0 thrashing in the T20I series against England following a 2-0 loss in the ODIs.
The hosts are expected to face stiff competition from the second-string Indian side, which looks formidable with a number of players eyeing a spot in the T20 World Cup squad.
