Why Yuzvendra Chahal not playing today: Why is Suryakumar Yadav not playing ODI between India and Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka has won the toss and chose to bat in the second ODI against India at Eden Gardens. Shanaka, who had also won the toss in the first ODI in Guwahati on Tuesday, he had invited the hosts to bat first on the day before yesterday.

“We’ll bat first. Very good wicket to bat first, also looking at the venue stats. Important to score, be relaxed and play our natural game,” Shanaka told Star Sports at the toss.

Sri Lanka have had to make a couple of forced changes to their Playing XI for this match as opening batter Pathum Nissanka and pacer Dilshan Madushanka aren’t playing today due to individual injuries. Debutant opening batter Nuwanidu Fernando and pacer Lahiru Kumara have been given opportunities in place of Nissanka and Madushanka.

Why is Yuzvendra Chahal not playing today vs Sri Lanka?

India captain Rohit Sharma was unsure of what to do after winning the toss in Kolkata on Thursday. Thankfully for Sharma, he ended up losing the toss. “I was in two minds. Wanted to bat first because of how we played last time, but looking at this ground, I wanted to field,” Sharma told Star Sports at the toss.

In spite of coming on the back of a 67-run victory, India have had to make a lone change to their Playing XI as spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has been ruled out of the match due to a shoulder injury. “Yuzvendra Chahal was unavailable for selection in the 2nd ODI due to a sore right shoulder,” read BCCI’s tweet with respect to Chahal’s injury update.

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who had won a match award in his last international match last month, has replaced Chahal in the Playing XI for this match.

With India making no change in the batting department, in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav continues to warm the bench. If truth be told, Yadav wasn’t expected to play this match despite having done bulk of eye-catching run-scoring at the highest level of late.

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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