Why are Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav not playing today’s second ODI between New Zealand and India?

Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav not playing: The visitors have made two significant changes to their Playing XI for the second ODI.

During the second ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of South Africa in Auckland, India have decided to leave out fast bowler Mohammed Shami and spinner Kuldeep Yadav from their Playing XI.

Coming on the back of a 4-wicket loss which saw the hosts sealing a 348-run chase in the penultimate over, India haven’t included Shami who leaked 63 runs in the 9.1 overs that he bowled in Hamilton. Yadav, on the other hand, had given 84 runs in 10 overs in addition to dismissing two Kiwi batsmen.

India’s last seven ODIs at Eden Park, Auckland:
India won – 4.
India lost – 2.
Tie – 1.

All the six matches which yielded results were won by the team batting second. #NZvIND

— Dixit Bhargav (@dixitbhargav09) February 7, 2020

Why are Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav not playing?

The development was made public by India captain Virat Kohli at the toss after the decided to bowl first. It is worth mentioning that India have included fast bowler Navdeep Saini and spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as replacements for Shami and Yadav.

“We will bowl first. Pretty hard wicket, the new-ball might do a bit, smaller ground, short straight boundaries and it’s difficult to defend. Need to bowl well, put the pressure on their batsmen and take some early wickets. Need to bring the intensity we had in the T20Is into the 50-over game.

“Two changes for us – Mohammed Shami has been rested with Test cricket coming up. Navdeep Saini is in. Yuzvendra Chahal replaces Kuldeep [Yadav]; he [Chahal] hasn’t played an ODI for a while, wanted to get him into the team,” Kohli was quoted as saying during the toss.

Much like India, New Zealand have also made two changes to their squad. While all-rounder Mitchell Santner has missed the match due to an injury, spinner Ish Sodhi has been left out to accommodate an extra fast bowler in debutant Kyle Jamieson.

Mark Chapman, who was brought in injured captain Kane Williamson’s replacement, is playing his first ODI in nearly two years.

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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