Cricket lovers in Punjab upset as Yuvraj, Harbhajan not picked for World Cup

LUDHIANA: As Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) announced the fifteen member team for 2015 World Cup, it has angered Punjabis as none of the players from the state has been included in the team.
The cricket crazy fans are especially furious over non-inclusion of Left Handed Batsman Yuvraj Singh in the team who was man of the series in the last world cup which was won by Team India.
Says Amrik Singh Nagra, who was part of Ranji team of the state in 1990-1991 and is presently coaching budding players in Ludhiana, "It is perhaps shocking for Indian cricket that first time after 1980s a Punjabi has not found a place in Team India.This is despite the fact that Yuvraj Singh has shown great form in the recent Ranji matches and has a great past as well as he was the man of the series during last world cup which India won. If BCCI would selected team on the basis of present and past performance, 4-5 players named by it wouldn't have found place in the team".
"Also BCCI has been hard on Harbhajan as he has showed tremendous form in the shortest format (Twenty20), one-day International and longest form of the game (Tests) as well".
The budding players of the city too are angry over Yuvi not being made part of Team India's world cup squad.
"Yuvi has better batting record than most of the batsman who have been named in the squad. If the present form is a criteria for selection, he even performed exceptionally well during the Ranji season and scored three back to back centuries. He has a great past record as well. It is really bad that BCCI picked up many inexperienced players and dropped the classic ones like Yuvraj", said 12-year-old Saksham, a right handed batsman.
The budding bowlers too are upset with Harbhajan Singh being dropped for World Cup 2015.
Says Amitoj Singh, an off spinner and right handed bowler of the city who is an ardent fan of Bhajji, "Harbhajan is better than any off spinner in India as present. He has deceived the best batsman in the world with his classic spin. It is really shocking that BCCI left him out of the squad".
There are some cricket lovers who though didn't named those players picked by BCCI, but said that they were selected because of better contacts in the Board.