During the first ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of Bangladesh in Mirpur, Bangladesh captain Liton Das has won the toss and chose to bowl in his first-ever ODI as captain.
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“We are going to bowl first. Looks like it could be sticky for the first ten overs, that’s why we are bowling first. We want to follow the process and play good cricket,” Das told the host broadcaster at the toss.
India captain Rohit Sharma, playing an ODI after four and a half months, on the other hand, was unsure about what to choose due to the moisture on the pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. “To be honest, I was not sure. The pitch seems to have some moisture, so we would have bowled first too,” Sharma told the host broadcaster at the toss.
Why is Rishabh Pant not playing today vs Bangladesh?
Playing an ODI after only a handful of days, India have made as many as seven changes to their Playing XI primarily due to the difference in squads for tours of New Zealand and Bangladesh.
Batters Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer, all-rounder Washington Sundar and pacer Deepak Chahar are the only four common players in both the Playing XIs.
While India have been bolstered by the presence of Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain KL Rahul, they will be taking the field without wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant and all-rounder Axar Patel. Although the exact nature of injuries haven’t been revealed, Pant and Patel have been ruled out of the ODI series and first ODI respectively.
🚨 UPDATE
In consultation with the BCCI Medical Team, Rishabh Pant has been released from the ODI squad. He will join the team ahead of the Test series. No replacement has been sought
Axar Patel was not available for selection for the first ODI.#TeamIndia | #BANvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 4, 2022
Despite the presence of Ishan Kishan in their 17-member squad, India have handed the wicket-keeping gloves to Rahul. It was during the first India-Australia ODI at the Wankhede Stadium almost three years ago when Rahul had first kept wickets in an ODI after Pant was hit on the helmet while batting.
Performing the role after 20 months in this format, it is worth a mention that Rahul has done exceedingly well as a middle-order wicket-keeper batter in the past scoring 458 runs across nine innings at an average and strike rate of 65.42 and 114.78 respectively including a century and four half-centuries.
