Why is Rohit Sharma not playing today’s Asia Cup T20 between India and Afghanistan in Dubai?

Why is Rohit Sharma not playing vs Afghanistan: India have made three changes to their Playing XI for this match.

During the 11th match of Asia Cup 2022 between India and Afghanistan in Dubai, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi has won the toss and chose to bowl in a dead-rubber.

“We will bowl first. We left the [Sharjah Cricket] stadium immediately and went to the hotel last night. Had some green tea and took a few sleeping pills. It was a tough night [after loss in a nail-biter against Pakistan]. We have played well in the tournament. We could have won the last two games. We will try our best to play some good cricket,” Nabi told Star Sports at the toss.

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Despite playing back-to-back matches in different cities, Afghanistan haven’t tinkered with their Playing XI as the same combination will face India tonight.

Why is Rohit Sharma not playing vs Afghanistan today?

India, on the other hand, have continued with their tendency of making changes to their XI. The first and foremost change is that captain Rohit Sharma has been rested for this match. Vice-captain KL Rahul, who has led India seven times in the past, will be leading them for the first time in the shortest format on Thursday.

“We wanted to bat first. We want to challenge ourselves as a batting unit,” Rahul told Star Sports at the toss.

Other than Sharma, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have also been rested for this match. As a result, veteran wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik, all-rounder Axar Patel and pacer Deepak Chahar will be playing this match at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

“Rohit [Sharma] wants to take a break. Playing back-to-back is not easy in these conditions. Yuzi [Yuzvendra Chahal], Rohit and Hardik [Pandya] miss out,” Rahul added.

In spite of the team needing their captain to lead from the front and register some consistency both as a player and captain, India making three changes has it in it to be debatable even after a debacle.

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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