Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan and other unpicked players who deserved a spot in Indian Squad for Zimbabwe tour 2016

2. Yusuf Pathan

Yusuf Pathan averages 89.75 with the bat in the Indian Premier League 2016

Another hard-hitting batsman, and an experienced one at that, to miss out on a national team recall was Yusuf Pathan. The Baroda right-hander last played for India in 2012, and since then, he has left no stones unturned to forge is selection back into the side only to be ignored by the selectors time and again. In the next three IPL seasons– in 2013, 2014, and 2015– he had batting averages of 30.18, 29.77 and 44.57 as he accumulated 332, 268 and 312 runs from 16, 15, and 13 games respectively.

As if those numbers weren’t enough, he went several notches higher this season, as far as his batting is concerned, as he has aggregated 359 runs from 14 matches so far at an excellent average of 89.75 and a strike-rate of 148.34, and he can add to that tally if the Kolkata Knight Riders do well in the playoffs. With such remarkable performances, and that too on a consistent basis, Pathan did deserve his Team India recall, but wasn’t offered one once again.