‘This is a mistake’: Srikkanth slams India’s ‘fear-driven’ squad for Afghan series

NEW DELHI: India’s decision to field a full-strength squad for the upcoming Afghanistan T20I series has drawn sharp criticism from former cricketer Kris Srikkanth, who believes the selectors missed a valuable opportunity to expose more youngsters to international cricket.Srikkanth described the selection as a “mistake” and suggested that the recent defeats in Ireland and England had influenced the selectors into playing it safe rather than experimenting with the squad.India suffered a 0-2 T20I series defeat against Ireland before being beaten 0-4 by England in July. With the Afghanistan series offering three matches in familiar home conditions, Srikkanth felt it was the ideal setting to give fringe players a longer run.“After the series losses in Ireland and England, the selectors have decided not to take a chance and picked a full-strength squad for Afghanistan. They are going all guns blazing, but this is a mistake.