Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Rajat Patidar was snubbed by the Indian selectors for the T20I tour of the UK and the subsequent Asian Games as well. The 33-year-old had done well with the bat during the IPL 2026 season and also led his team to their second successive title win.

India’s former skipper Kris Srikkanth wasn’t happy with the selectors’ call to overlook the batter from the Indian T20I squad. The 66-year-old trained his guns on Tilak Varma and said the left-handed batter cannot smash the bowlers around the park like Phil Salt or Bengaluru’s skipper.

Taking to his YouTube channel, Srikkanth said, “Tilak is not in form and doesn’t have the big-hitting ability. Surely, he can play shots, but cannot demolish the bowlers like Salt or Patidar. He hasn’t done well for Mumbai in the last few seasons of the IPL and doesn’t take the opposition teams out of the game. At his batting position, Varma has to play impactful knocks like Rajat.”

1983 World Cup winner also went on to say that Washington Sundar didn’t merit a place in the Indian T20I set-up. “Sundar doesn’t deserve a place on the Indian side. He bats in the middle-order and doesn’t bowl regularly for Gujarat; he’s at best a stand-by in the national team. So there is a huge question mark as to who Washington is, a certainty in the team as an all-rounder.”

Chance for young players to prove critics wrong

Tilak Varma is currently leading the India A side in the Tri-Series against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The Hyderabadi batter scored 359 runs for MI in the 2026 season with one century and two fifties with an average of 29. He also scored 207 runs in the T20 World Cup with a best of 44 not out and a strike-rate of 154.

Sundar was part of the India side in the one-off Test against Afghanistan that ended on Monday. The 26-year-old scored 52 not out with the bat and also picked up five wickets with the ball. His last T20I game was against South Africa in the World Cup this year, where he went wicketless and scored just 11 runs with the bat.

The upcoming tours will give the duo a chance to prove the critics wrong with their performances. Both players have done well for the Indian set-up in the chances given to them in the past. India is set to play to play T20 T20Is in Ireland and five more in England in June and July, respectively.