Why Harshal Patel not playing today: Why Virat Kohli is not playing today 2nd T20I between India and West Indies in St Kitts?

Why Harshal Patel not playing today: India have made a solitary change to their Playing XI for the second T20I.

During the second T20I of India’s tour of West Indies 2022 in Basseterre, West Indies captain Nicholas Pooran has won the toss and chose to bowl for the second time in a row in this series.

“We gonna have a bowl, wickets look nice and we will try and use our experience. We want to forget that game and believe in our process and execute our plans. Different conditions today and the guys are looking forward to whatever spin/seam attack they have,” Pooran told ESPN Caribbean at the toss.

Wanting to put their best foot forward in search of a victory at the Warner Parl, West Indies have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI. Batter Brandon King and wicket-keeper batter Devon Thomas have replaced batter Shamarh Brooks and fast bowler Keemo Paul in the XI.

Why is Harshal Patel not playing today vs West Indies?

India captain Rohit Sharma didn’t mind losing a toss for the second time in a row as he sounded unperturbed about being asked to bat first following a delayed start.

“It was quite pleasing for us, the way we played first game. We stuck to our plans and executed it really well. It’s another opportunity for us and we are looking to repeat what we did in the first one,” Sharma told ESPN Caribbean at the toss.

A lone change for India has come in the form of fast bowler Avesh Khan playing this match for spinner Ravi Bishnoi. It is a change in the conditions which has motivated India to play an extra pacer on Monday.

Rohit Sharma is gone first-ball 🥺#WIvIND #SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings pic.twitter.com/E90eK8yvOy

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) August 1, 2022

“The dimensions are different here and wanted to get an extra seamer here. [Ravi] Bishnoi misses out unfortunately and Avesh Khan comes in. It’s unfortunate that he misses out but we are trying whatever we can from the team’s perspective,” Sharma added.

A primary reason why India have picked Khan ahead of a more established name in Harshal Patel is the latter suffering a rib injury. “Harshal Patel has a rib injury and is unavailable for selection for the 2nd and 3rd T20I. He is being monitored by the BCCI medical team,” BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) tweeted before the start of this match.

As far as former captain Virat Kohli is concerned, he has been rested for this tour.

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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