Rishabh Pant not playing: The home team has persisted with its tried and tested combination especially in the batting division.
Advertisement
During the first ODI of the ongoing England’s tour of India in Pune, England captain Eoin Morgan has won the toss and invited the hosts in to bat. Speaking during the toss, Morgan admitted that his team will miss injured fast bowler Jofra Archer.
“Looks like a good wicket, a bit more grass than we expected. We’re up for the challenge. Sam Billings, Tom Curran comes back in. Moeen Ali comes back in. Jofra’s [Archer] unfortunately injured at the moment,” Morgan told Star Sports during the toss.
Out of their 14-member strong squad for this three-match series, the visitors have left out uncapped batsman Liam Livingstone, spinner Matt Parkinson and fast bowler Reece Topley.
Why is Rishabh Pant not playing today’s 1st ODI between India and England?
Kohli, who lost yet another toss today, revealed that he wanted to bat first. Continuing to give opportunities to rookie players, India have handed debuts to all-rounder Krunal Pandya and pacer Prasidh Krishna.
Some brotherly love 💙🫂
A moment to cherish for the duo 🧢#TeamIndia #INDvENG @Paytm pic.twitter.com/UYwt5lmlQq
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 23, 2021
“Very happy to bat first. Weather is going to drastically change in the evening. It’s a great opportunity for us to put runs on the board. The last game we played here against England is a great memory. If we believe we are a top side we should be ready to do anything, whether we decide or asked to do something,” Kohli told Star Sports during the toss.
Being asked about the Playing XI, Kohli made public that they will persist with the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Lokesh Rahul in the middle-order. Despite both the players doing exceedingly well of late, there had been murmurs of them getting benched to accommodate more exciting prospects such as Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav.
“KL [Rahul] will bat at 5 and keep [wickets]. Top four are Rohit [Sharma], Shikhar [Dhawan], myself and Shreyas [Iyer]. Hardik [Pandya] bats at 6,” Kohli added.
Despite Pant’s stellar Test knocks in the recent past, India have done the right thing by not playing him and benching Rahul. Pant, who had played his last ODI more than a year ago in Mumbai, will have to wait for his opportunity in the 50-over format at the highest level.
Other than Pant, players from the Indian squad who are not part of the XI today are Shubman Gill, Yadav, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj and T. Natarajan.
