Why Arshdeep is not playing today: Why is Virat Kohli not playing today’s 1st T20I between India and Sri Lanka in Mumbai?

During the first T20I of Sri Lanka’s tour of India 2023 in Mumbai, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has won the toss and chose to bowl citing the probable interruption by the “dew factor” in the second innings.

“Going to bowl first. Dew factor will be there later. We were doing well in T20Is except the [ICC T20] World Cup [2022]. We are following the routines,” Shanaka told Star Sports at the toss.

Shanaka, who laid emphasis on consistency in their combination, announced a lone change to their Playing XI from their last World Cup match against England in Sydney a couple of months ago. Readers must note that pacer Dilshan Madushanka has been given an opportunity in place of pacer Lahiru Kumara.

Why is Arshdeep is not playing today vs Sri Lanka?

India captain Hardik Pandya surprised one and all by expressing his desire to bat first in a T20I being played at the Wankhede Stadium. Pandya talked about challenging a comparatively inexperienced squad by throwing them out of their comfort zone.

“Always been excited to play for the country, but obviously leading now makes it more special. We were going to bat first. Yes, this is a chasing ground but we want to put ourselves in more difficult situations generally in bilaterals,” Pandya told Star Sports at the toss.

With captain Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli rested for this series, India have handed a T20I debut to Shubman Gill. Pandya talking about fast bowler Arshdeep Singh’s unavailability due to unknown reasons has paved way for another debutant in pacer Shivam Mavi. While Gill received his T20I cap from batter Suryakumar Yadav, Mavi received his maiden India cap from Pandya.

Another surprising change to this Indian Playing XI is all-rounder Axar Patel playing ahead of all-rounder Washington Sundar despite a substandard T20 World Cup. Other than Singh and Sundar, batters Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rahul Tripathi and uncapped fast bowler Mukesh Kumar aren’t playing for the home team tonight.

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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