Why is Deepak Chahar not playing today’s 1st ODI between India and South Africa in Lucknow?

Why is Deepak Chahar not playing today: India are playing with three pacers and two spinners in the first match today.

During the first ODI of South Africa’s second tour of India 2022 in Lucknow, India captain Shikhar Dhawan has won the toss and chose to field in a 40-over contest.

With the city’s weather forecast for today exceeding all expectations, multiple delays to the toss have resulted in an overall delay of 135 minutes as far as the start time is concerned. With drizzle making its presence felt on multiple occasions during the afternoon, Dhawan elected to field first to make optimum use of the moisture on the pitch.

“We would like to field first. There is a bit of moisture on the wicket and we want to exploit that. We got six batters and five bowlers playing. Two spinners and three pacers,” Dhawan told Star Sports at the toss.

Much like Dhawan, South Africa captain Temba Bavuma also wanted to field first for similar reasons. Asked to bat first, Bavuma laid emphasis on adjusting well to the conditions.

“We would have liked to bowl first as well. We have a job to do with the bat and we need to adapt accordingly after the first few overs,” Bavuma told Star Sports at the toss.

Why is Deepak Chahar not playing today vs South Africa?

Having last played an ODI during the tour of Zimbabwe in August this year, India have made a total of four changes to their Playing XI from that match.

Batter Ruturaj Gaikwad, vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, spinner Ravi Bishnoi and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj have been included into the Playing XI for KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda, Axar Patel and Deepak Chahar. Readers must note that Gaikwad and Bishnoi are playing their first ODI today.

Pacer Avesh Khan retaining his place ahead of Chahar is surprising to see. With Dhawan not being asked about the reason behind Chahar’s absence, it appears that he has been rested a day after playing the third India vs South Africa T20I in Indore.

Readers must note that Iyer and Siraj are playing this match despite being part of the Indian Playing XI on Tuesday. In the absence of a designated all-rounder at No. 7, both Chahar and Shardul Thakur would’ve lengthened the Indian batting on Thursday. With Avesh, Kuldeep Yadav, Bishnoi and Siraj set to bat between No. 7-11, India can’t afford to lose early wickets in this match.

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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