India Vs Australia: Shashi Tharoor Slams 'Awful' Team Selection, Slams Kuldeep Yadav's Omission For 2nd ODI

Politician and author Shashi Tharoor on Thursday criticised Indian selectors for excluding spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the second ODI XI in Adelaide and opting for pacer Harshit Rana, as Australian quick Xavier Bartlett dismantled India's top order with Virat Kohli's duck off just four balls.

In a strongly-worded social media post, Tharoor labelled the decision "idiocy" and "absurd," questioning the logic of benching a player he described as the "most potent match-winner in their squad."

In a post on X, Tharoor wrote, "So Xavier Bartlett took just four balls to show the Indian selectors the idiocy of their decision to leave out the most potent match-winner in their squad, @imkuldeep18 in favour of a journeyman pacer like Rana. It was wrong to omit Kuldeep in England & it is absurd not to pick him in Adelaide. Awful!" [sic]

Tharoor's comments were triggered just moments into the match. He pointed to the immediate success of Australian pacer Xavier Bartlett, who claimed a wicket just four balls into his spell. Tharoor used this development as sarcastic proof of the selectors' error.

However, Tharoor's attempt to criticise the Indian cricket team's Playing XI and more so, the selectors was corrected online for a significant error. In his post, Tharoor appeared to reference Bartlett's performance as a reason why India should have played a spinner.

This led to a "viral faux pas" as users quickly highlighted that Bartlett is, in fact, a fast bowler known for seam and swing, not spin. The error made netizens question his critique and led to criticism of his understanding of the game.