Why Shikhar Dhawan is not playing today: Why is Jasprit Bumrah not playing today’s 1st ODI vs Sri Lanka in Guwahati?

During the first ODI of Sri Lanka’s tour of India 2023 in Guwahati, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has won the toss and chose to bowl keeping in mind the strong possibility of dew at night.

“We are going to bowl first because of the dew at night. It was a good boost, the way we played in the T20Is,” Shanaka told Star Sports at the toss.

The only change which the visitors have made to their Playing XI which played in the third Rajkot T20I is all-rounder Dunith Wellalage coming in for spinner Maheesh Theekshana. Playing an ODI in India after five years, the visitors would be looking to start an ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 on a winning note.

Why is Shikhar Dhawan is not playing today vs Sri Lanka?

Much like Shanaka, India captain Rohit Sharma also wanted to field first due to the same reason. Having said that, the 35-year old player accepted the challenge of defending a total with the interference of dew.

“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,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.

India have a made a total of five changes to their Playing XI which participated in the third ODI against Bangladesh in Chattogram exactly a month ago.

In addition to Sharma, batter Shubman Gill, vice-captain Hardik Pandya, fast bowler Mohammed Shami and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have come into the Playing XI in place of batters Shikhar Dhawan and Ishan Kishan, all-rounders Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur and spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

It is worth a mention that Dhawan has been dropped from the ODI squad following a lean patch in his last 10 innings. Furthermore, the 37-year old player hasn’t scored an ODI century since ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

Bumrah, on the other hand, has been ruled out of the series due to stiffness in his right glute right after recovering from a back stress fracture.

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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