No Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav? Mohammad Kaif Leads Reactions As India Snub Explosive Duo For 1st ODI

There was no change in the team management’s mindset after Rohit Sharma confirmed in the pre-match press conference that Shubman Gill will open ahead of Ishan Kishan in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. As India’s playing XI was announced on Tuesday, a number of fans were left bemused seeing Ishan not making the playing XI despite scoring a double hundred in his last ODI against Bangladesh. Not just that, there was no place for Suryakumar Yadav either despite the middle-order batter scoring a blazing ton against the Lankans in the 3rd T20I on Saturday.

Rohit Sharma’s decision to snub Kishan in favour of Gill was already known but the absence of Surya from the teamsheet even left Mohammad Kaif scratching his head.

“Slightly uncomfortable with the prospect of watching an Indian team today without last ODI’s double hundred scorer, Ishan Kishan, and last T20’s centurion Suryakumar Yadav. Hope they remain motivated,” Kaif tweeted.

Slightly uncomfortable with the prospect of watching an Indian team today without last ODI’s double hundred scorer, Ishan Kishan, and last T20’s centurion Suryakumar Yadav. Hope they remain motivated. #INDvSL

— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) January 10, 2023

“We are happy to bat first. We would have liked to bowl as well, it’s a good challenge. The ground was flooded with dew yesterday. There will be times where we need to bowl under dew, we got to be ready for that with the World Cup around the corner. It’s about doing the basics right, it’s important to do things differently at times. We need to keep moving in the right direction. Had a great time playing an ODI here last time, hope we’ll have another memorable game today,” Rohit Sharma said at the time of toss.

Here’s how the fans reacted:

Today, there are some unanswered questions about the #Playing team. Everyone was expecting #suryakumar & #IshanKishan to play but #BCCISelectionCommittee is having some different plans, let’s see if it works. #INDvsSL #SLvIND #ODICricket #Guwahati #Cricket #CricketTwitter

— Gurbir Bhatia (@gsb2041) January 10, 2023

Thats why india is not winning any Icc tournament because players like surya ishan are sitting out when they are performing well #SuryaKumarYadav

— RockY Singh (@rocky_295) January 10, 2023

Dropped surya, ishan to accommodate out of form @klrahul

— Women Helpline 181 Haryana (@181_women) January 10, 2023

No Ishan Kishan, No Surya Kumar Yadav!!
KL is playing though!#INDvSL #INDvsSL

— Cricket (@T20WC2022_) January 10, 2023

Earlier, Rohit had explained his decision to pick Shubman, saying: “Gill has got a lot of runs in the last few games, so has Ishan. I am not going to take anything away from him (Ishan). He’s been wonderful for us, got a double hundred. And, I know what it takes to get a double hundred, it is a great achievement. But just to be honest and fair to the guys who have done really well before, we need to give those guys enough chances as well before we make that call.”

India:Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik, Mohammed Siraj and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Sri Lanka:Dasun Shanaka(c), Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(w), Avishka Fernando, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka,Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha and Dilshan Madushanka.

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