Chief national selector MSK Prasad has explained the reason behind Kedar Jadhav’s shock exclusion from India’s 15-member squad for the remaining three One Day International (ODI) matches against West Indies.

Speaking to news agency Press Trust of India, Prasad said the selection committee was not convinced with the 33-year-old’s history of fitness, and hence did not include him in the squad.

“We did not pick Kedar because of his history of fitness. There have been occasions earlier when he has come back fit and then broke down, a case in point being the Asia Cup last month,” Prasad said.

“Actually, we were thinking that if India A won today, then Kedar would have got another match, which would have given us a fair assessment of his match fitness. Maybe we could have added him as an additional player (in Indian team) before the fourth ODI as the Deodhar final is on Saturday. Players need to understand that there is a process that we follow while selecting the team,” MSK Prasad added.

Jadhav had been excluded for the first two ODIs against West Indies due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the Asia Cup final against Bangladesh. However, he had been declared fit for Deodhar Trophy game for India A against India C in New Delhi on Thursday.

Jadhav had expressed his shock after he was not considered for the India squad.

“Rehabilitation was good. Everything’s fine as of now. I cleared all the fitness tests; I was cleared match fit, which is why I was playing here,” said Jadhav, before adding, “I didn’t know (he was not selected). Obviously, I have to see why they have not picked me.”

Speaking about his injury, Jadhav said, “When you are in good form and get injured, it does hurt. Because when you make a comeback, it’s about starting from zero. It takes a lot of hard work. But I know it’s all about staying optimistic and doing your best.”

India squad:

Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ambati Rayudu, Rishabh Pant, MS Dhoni (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Khaleel Ahmed, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey.