Why Shardul Thakur not playing: Why is Shreyas Iyer not playing today’s 1st T20I between India and West Indies in Kolkata?

Dixit Bhargav | 16/02/2022
Why Shardul Thakur not playing: Why is Shreyas Iyer not playing today's 1st T20I between India and West Indies in Kolkata?

Shreyas Iyer not playing: India have left out two notable names from their Playing XI of the first T20I at the Eden Gardens.

During the first T20I of the ongoing West Indies’ tour of India in Kolkata, India captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and chose to field.

“Looks like we are going to bowl first here. I don’t want to comment on the pitch as it has played differently every time we have come here. [Bowling first] gives us a score in mind and how to approach the second half. We have to prepare ourselves with one eye on Australia [for ICC T20 World Cup 2022],” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard, who missed the last two ODIs in Ahmedabad due to an injury, has resumed his leadership role after recovering fully.

“The toss is 50-50. We have to bat and we have to bat well. Body is good. Had a niggle in my left knee, worked with the physio in the gym and let’s see what happens tonight. We try to stay in the present, what happened in the weekend is done and dusted,” Pollard told Star Sports at the toss.

“We had a conversation about it [Indian Premier League 2022 auction]. Happy for the guys who are selected but business on hand now is to represent the West Indies.”

Why is Shreyas Iyer not playing vs West Indies?

India, who have a problem of plenty in white-ball formats, have left out batter Shreyas Iyer and all-rounder Shardul Thakur. While Sharma wasn’t asked about the same at the toss, he did announce a T20I debut for spinner Ravi Bishnoi.

“We are playing with five batters, one all rounder and two spinners. Ravi Bishnoi is making his debut. We have got three seamers and few of those guys can bat as well,” Sharma said before revealing that Ishan Kishan will be opening the batting with him tonight.

Iyer, who was announced Kolkata Knight Riders’ captain for IPL 2022 this afternoon, has been benched to accommodate a more attacking option in Suryakumar Yadav. Thakur, on the other hand, couldn’t pin down Deepak Chahar for a spot in this Playing XI.

As far as West Indies are concerned, they are taking the field without star all-rounder Jason Holder. “Jason Holder misses out, he got hit in practice yesterday while working on his skills and he hasn’t recovered, Roston Chase gets an opportunity. We have to assess the conditions and see what the pitch has to offer,” Pollard mentioned.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
India shardul thakur shreyas iyer West Indies West Indies tour of India 2022

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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