Here's Why Rohit Sharma Isn't Included In India's Playing XI For 1st T20I vs England

Indian captain Virat Kohli made an eyebrow-raising decision in the first T20I against England in Ahmedabad by omitting Rohit Sharma. One would hope for Rohit Sharma to play against one of the strongest white-ball teams in the world and carry on his form from the Test matches. Nevertheless, Virat Kohli underlined that Rohit Sharma has been rested from the first two T20I internationals against England.

The decision was contrasting to Virat Kohli’s announcement on Thursday concerning India’s opening pair for the first T20 international against England. The 32-year old confirmed that KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma would be constituting the top-order, with Shikhar Dhawan as the back-up opener. Instead, Kohli has chosen KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan to open the innings and did not include none amongst Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.

Rohit Sharma is arguably one of the best white-ball batsmen of the generation and is the third-highest run-getter in T20 internationals. The stylish right-handed batsman has 2773 runs from 108 fixtures at 32.62 alongside a strike rate of 138.78. The 33-year old is also the only batsman to muster four tons in the format and has a 35-ball hundred in the shortest format in T20 international cricket.

“Rohit Sharma is resting for first couple of games in the T20I series” Kohli said during the toss.

India captain Virat Kohli loses the toss in Ahmedabad:

Meanwhile, the coin toss witnessed the Indian captain Virat Kohli losing the toss as his counterpart Eoin Morgan cited dew as a significant factor for choosing to bowl first. Kohli went with three spinners in Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Yuzvendra and two seamers in Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur.

Meanwhile, England decided to play four seamers in their line-up that included Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Mark Wood, and a specialist spinner in Adil Rashid. They have a star-studded batting line-up that has Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan, and Ben Stokes.

Also Read: Explained: How India Can Become No. 1 T20I Team By End Of England Series