NEW DELHI: Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad expressed his concerns about various “laughable things” within Indian cricket, one of which includes the exclusion of Kerala spinner Jalaj Saxena from South Zone’s squad for the upcoming Duleep Trophy commencing on June 28.
Despite Saxena’s prior representations for India A and Madhya Pradesh, where he showcased his talent, he was not selected for South Zone’s team. He achieved an impressive feat of claiming 50 wickets for Kerala in the recent Ranji Trophy season.
“There are many laughable things happening in Indian cricket. The highest wicket taker in Ranji Trophy not being picked even for the South Zone team is as baffling as it gets. Just renders the Ranji Trophy useless..what a shame,” lamented Prasad in a tweet.

The 36-year-old has played 133 first-class games, 104 List A and 66 T20s in his long domestic career.
Prasad, who has been chairman of the BCCI junior selection committee, had also questioned batter KL Rahul’s selection in the Indian team earlier this year after a prolonged poor run.
Some other selection calls in the upcoming Duleep Trophy have also come under the scanner with India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik questioning the omission of Tamil Nadu’s Baba Indrajith in the South Zone squad.
“I DONT understand selection committee these days. BABA INDRAJITH plays for Rest of India against MP in the first week of March 2023. There has been no first class matches post that, but he doesn’t feature for SOUTH ZONE in the Duleep Trophy. Can someone tell me why?” Karthik asked earlier this week.

(With PTI Inputs)