Another omission of Arshdeep Singh from the Indian T20I team has shocked not only the Indian fans but also the former cricketer. The leading wicket-taker for India has been pushed on the back foot as he has not been considered for a place in the first-choice playing eleven.
India is playing the first T20 match of Australia tour in Canberra. The Men in Blue are unbeaten in the shortest format of the game since becoming champions of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. India will also host the upcoming 2026 ICC T20 World Cup.
Gautam Gambhir has again made some strange changes in India’s playing XI as he has dropped experienced Indian fast bowler Arshdeep Singh. They have suffered another blow in the form of Nitish Kumar Reddy who has been ruled out of the first three matches of the series.
Another brutal criticism by Irfan Pathan taking a dig at Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir’s passion for batting depth across all formats has been appreciated by no former player till now. However, Gambhir has not deviated from his mindset as he has achieved good results with his changed XI.
Irfan Pathan had earlier criticized Gambhir for ignoring Arshdeep Singh as he was their best fast bowler in the shortest format of the game. The left-arm fast bowler was the first Indian bowler to complete 100 wickets in T20Is.
After another insult for Arshdeep Singh, Pathan instigated some brutal trolling for Gambhir as he made a post mentioning Arshdeep Singh’s name on his X handle.
Arshdeep Singh…
– Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) 29 October 2025
Priyank Panchal said, “Arshdeep Singh deserves better treatment.”
Another former Indian cricketer, Priyank Panchal, has said that no other cricket playing nation has ignored its highest wicket-taker on so many occasions as the World Cup approaches within a span of four months.
Former India cricketer Priyank Panchal wrote, “The number of countries that will consistently drop their highest wicket-taker from the XI in a format with the World Cup coming in four months is very limited. Arshdeep deserves better treatment.”
There are a very limited number of countries that will consistently drop their highest wicket-taker from the playing eleven in a format with the World Cup coming up in four months. Arshdeep deserves better treatment. #AUSvIND
– Priyank Panchal (@PKPanchal09) 29 October 2025
However, Gautam Gambhir may be keen to play with multiple spinners in this format, given that Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakraborty need some game time, as the World Cup will be played in the subcontinent.
Rinku Singh snubbed again after Asia Cup 2025
Indian middle-order batsman Rinku Singh was brought into the Indian team as a finisher, and his role also grew appreciably. However, after some inconsistent domestic and IPL performances from Rinku, he has been left out of the playing eleven.
Despite the absence of Hardik Pandya, India have not selected Rinku in the team and have instead kept Sanju Samson at number one. Shivam Dubey, world cup winner, is at number 5. 6. He last played for India in the Asia Cup final; However, Harshit Rana has been included at no. 8 has left the batsman out of the XI.
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