3 things that made MSK Prasad's tenure as India's chief selector highly controversial

#3 Questionable selections and sackings

Sanju Samson

The biggest criticism of the Prasad-led selection panel has been their inability to be consistent with selection.

After the controversy over Rayudu’s World Cup axe, the constant backing being given to Rishabh Pant despite a lengthy run of failures has been questioned. Recently, Sanju Samson was dropped from the squad for the West Indies T20Is in spite of him not being given a single chance to prove his worth against Bangladesh.

The unfair axing of Samson led to Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tweeting, "Very disappointed to see @IamSanjuSamson dropped without a chance. He carried the drinks for three T20Is & has been promptly discarded. Are they testing his batting or his heart?"

Very disappointed to see @IamSanjuSamson dropped without a chance. He carried the drinks for three T20Is & has been promptly discarded. Are they testing his batting or his heart? https://t.co/ydXgwOylBi

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) November 21, 2019

Backing Tharoor, former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also replied, asking Ganguly to change the selection panel.

"I guess they r testing his heart #selectionpanelneedtobechanged need strong people there.. hope dada @SGanguly99 will do the needful,” Harbhajan tweeted.

Samson got lucky as the injury to opener Shikhar Dhawan paved the way for him to make a return to the same squad from which he was dropped earlier. But his shoddy treatment at the hands of the selectors didn't go unnoticed.

Kedar Jadhav

Meanwhile, the selectors’ decision to retain under-performing all-rounder Kedar Jadhav has also drawn a lot of flak. Jadhav was dropped from the playing XI mid-way through the World Cup after he struggled to make an impact. However, he was retained for the ODI series in West Indies, and finds his name in the home series squad against the same team.

Prasad’s explanation that Jadhav hadn't done anything wrong to be excluded was puzzling to say the least.