During the 42nd match of the ongoing eighth edition of ICC T20 World Cup 2022 between India and Zimbabwe in Melbourne, India captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and chose to bat in a dead-rubber contest.
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“We will bat. It’s the preference of the team to bat first [and] nothing to do with the pitch. We just want to bat first and give a chance to our bowlers to defend,” Sharma told the broadcaster at the toss.
Unlike Sharma, Zimbabwe captain was looking to bowl first at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in their last match of the tournament. Hence, the toss hasn’t disappointed either of the two captains.
“We were looking to bowl first. The ball might skid through in the evening under lights,” Ervine told the broadcaster at the toss.
Why is Dinesh Karthik not playing vs Zimbabwe today?
India, who haven’t hesitated from tinkering with winning combinations lately, have made a lone change to their Playing XI by including wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant for wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik.
Although Karthik had suffered a back spasm earlier in the tournament, readers must note that he has recovered from the same and that has been left out because the team management wanted to give an opportunity to Pant. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the 37-year old player’s current form in the tournament might have also not worked in his favour.
“One change – Rishabh Pant plays instead of DK [Dinesh Karthik]. He is the only guy who hasn’t played a single game on this tour including the warm-up games. We wanted to give him a game,” Sharma explained the rationale behind the move.
Pant, 25, will be playing his first match of this World Cup but had played two practice matches against Western Australia last month. With Pant’s inclusion, pacer Harshal Patel and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal remain the only two Indian cricketer to have not played any T20I in this tournament.
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI by bringing in all-rounder Tony Munyonga and spinner Wellington Masakadza for batter Milton Shumba and pacer Luke Jongwe.
