Twitter reactions on Vijay Shankar’s inclusion: Twitter was left confused over India’s team changes for the second T20I.
Having lost the first T20I by three wickets at Visakhapatnam, India now find themselves in a must-win situation to save the series. Post not losing to Australia in Australia, losing a series to them at home would be the last thing which the hosts would be wanting.
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Much like the first T20I, Australia captain Aaron Finch won the toss and chose to field at Bengaluru. In a bid to not tinker with the winning combination, the visitors opted to field the same squad here as well.
On the other hand, the desperation to win has forced India to make three changes to their squad. Opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, all-rounder Vijay Shankar and fast bowler Siddarth Kaul have been included in place of opening batsman Rohit Sharma, fast bowler Umesh Yadav and leg-spinner Mayank Markande.
Confusion behind dropping Markande
While the other two decisions are justified, India surprised bountiful fans by including Shankar for Markande. Having made his debut in the first match, the latter had bowled well to register bowling figures of 4-0-31-0.
Instead of backing the rookie cricketer, the team management deciding to drop him hasn’t gone well with the fans. Furthermore, his replacement has caused further confusion on the hosts’ ploy.
While Shankar impressed one and all with his batting during the tour of New Zealand, he wasn’t given the ball in any of the three T20Is. Being an all-rounder, the same had come as a surprise for everyone.
While the team management have played him as a specialist all-rounder tonight, whether he will be able to deliver with the ball remains the big question. With him as the fifth bowling option, India have compromised on their bowling division in a bid to strengthen their batting.
Read some of the latest Twitter reactions on the same below:
@StarSportsIndia #AskStar why ind choose vijay shankar in place of markande as a 5th bowling option.bcz in recent matches they don’t bowl even a single over ????
— Kapilsharma_746 (@746Kapilsharma) February 27, 2019
If Team Managment thinks that Vijay Shankar is the replacement of Hardik then there is no harm in trying him as 5th bowler keeping WC in view. He will have to play as complete all-rounder in WC. It’s good move keeping WC in view IMO. It’s time to test the players.#INDvAUS
— Tushar Jain (@mainlycricket) February 27, 2019
Its very weak decision playing with 5 bowlers including vijay shankar#cricbuzzlive
— Sudhir Yadav (@sudhir430) February 27, 2019
Imo Krunal is a proper T20I bowler who can give us 4 overs each match but I see Vijay Shankar as only a part time bowler giving us 2, max 3 ovs in a match… Cuz his medium pace..
— Chatterjee Sanjeeb (@Sanjeebtweets19) February 27, 2019
Vijay shankar bowling in T20 can’t be trusted that too in small banglore Ground. Hope he performs both with the bat and ball.
Today might be the last international T20 for Dhoni. #MSD #AUSvIND— sowgandh (@sowgandh4) February 27, 2019
Expecting #Kohli to bowl 1 or 2 overs tonight…
Weakest bowling line up ever… #Bumrah n #Chahal 2 good bowlers… #Kaul inexperienced…#Krunal n #VijayShankar can’t bowl 8 overs… #INDvAUS— Irshad (@Irshad_8055) February 27, 2019
#VijayShankar has to bowl 4 overs now. Greedy, isn’t it ? Expecting a batting all-rounder to bowl full quota of 4 overs. Should’ve gone for Kuldeep in place of DK with the same squad. #INDvAUS #cricbuzzlive
— Pradeep kumar™ (@Pradeep_kumar27) February 27, 2019
Why 3 wicket keepers? Vijay Shankar should have replaced one of the wicket keeper rather than a bowler.
— Kiku Bhai (@kikub) February 27, 2019
Vijay Shankar and Krunal Pandya have to bowl 8 Overs on Chinnaswamy pitch 🙄
— Shyam (@shyamMSDian07) February 27, 2019
No total is safe batting first in Bangalore. Everything could be chased down on this ground and we’re playing with just the 4 frontline bowlers + Vijay Shankar. #INDvAUS
— Prantik (@JoeHarts_hat) February 27, 2019
Vijay shankar as a 5th bowling option😕😬😑
— S Randhawa🏏 (@Randhawa36_) February 27, 2019
India bat first again. No surprise Rohit Sharma is rested. The bowling is a bit thin though with Vijay Shankar entrusted with 4 overs. But it means India bat deeper.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) February 27, 2019
In today’s game Vijay shankar is one among the 5 bowler who going to bowl,
Then why Vijay Shankar not Bowled in NZ..
When Krunal and Hardik Combiningly achieve 100 in bowling
— V entertain (@VEntertain321) February 27, 2019
India didn’t give a single over to Shankar in NZ….even in 200+ games. Tonight he’s given the job of bowling four overs. Once again, India plays only 5 bowlers including Shankar. #IndvAus @StarSportsIndia
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) February 27, 2019
I know they are playing around with team selection with WC in mind, but this has to be the weakest bowling attack seen for a while, with Krunal & Vijay Shankar as two of the five bowlers.#INDvsAUS
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) February 27, 2019
