Mumbai, Sept. 4: The decision taken by the Indian think tank on Sunday of leaving out fast bowler Shantakumaran Sreesanth from the 14-member Champions Trophy squad left many surprised including former India cricketers, who failed to understand the reasoning behind the Kerala paceman’s omission.

Looking at recent records, Sreesanth scores over left-arm seamer R.P. Singh on the basis of his impressive performances back in West Indies. However regarding the drafting in of Singh, of whom chief selector Kiran More says deserves an opportunity — the Malaysian tri-series is where the Uttar Pradesh bowler will have to show his mettle.

Former cricketer Anshuman Gaekwad fumed at the decision to drop Sreesanth for an important tournament like the Champions Trophy, "How can they drop a bowler like Sreesanth, who has performed well in the West Indies. As far as opportunity is concerned, R.P. Singh could have been given an opportunity in Malaysia instead of a big tournament like the Champions Trophy," he said.

"You need to have the best bowlers in your side, if you want to win the Champions Trophy which is a mini-World Cup. And this will hit the morale of a young bowler like Sreesanth who has been bowling quite well," added the former India coach.

Ex-India skipper Ajit Wadekar echoed Gaekwad’s views. "I was stunned when I heard Sreesanth has been dropped despite performing well in the West Indies. He has been bowling extremely well and is very aggressive. R.P. Singh is a young player and you can give him opportunity anytime — not for a big tournament like Champions Trophy," said Wadekar.

Wadekar wanted to know why seamer Zaheer Khan was not in the side despite performing well on the county circuit. "Zaheer has been bowling pretty well in county matches and taking wickets in bulk. Selectors should have picked him," he said.

As far as former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly was concerned, both cricketers felt that the southpaw needed to perform well in the domestic circuit to get back into the side.

"I don’t know why Sourav was dropped from the team despite scoring crucial 30s-40s during the Pakistan tour and on what basis he was then included in the 30-member probables list for the Champions Trophy at a time when he failed in the county circuit and had no domestic form," Gaekwad said.