India vs Australia 2019: India Left Out KL Rahul For 1st ODI, Twitter Reacts

It has been a hard last few days for KL Rahul in his career on and off the field. He failed to garner runs for the team across the formats and then got the suspension for his remarks in a talk show. However, he is back to the game and found a place in the Indian National Cricket Team for the series against Australia.

KL Rahul, who opened the innings for India in the first T20I against Australia in absence of Shikhar Dhawan scored a brilliant fifty. He was the highest scorer for the team on a wicket, which looked really tough to bat freely.  He carried the same form in the second T20I game at his home venue.

India went with their regular openers:

After showing the fine piece of form in the T20I series, it was expected that KL Rahul will be back in the ODI team by resting either from Shikhar Dhawan or Rohit Sharma. However, that wasn’t the case as they left him out from the squad.

It came as a shocker for the Indian fans, as they felt that KL Rahul would be a sure shot addition. Recently, MSK Prasad, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri also quoted that they would like to give some game time for the youngster. But, unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Perhaps, they would give him chance in the remaining games.

On Saturday, for the first ODI game, India went with their regular opening combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. The Indian skipper Virat Kohli will play at his regular number 3 slot while last match centurion for India in ODI game, Ambati Rayudu will be their number 4 batsman for the first ODI game against Australia.

In between, they rested Yuzvendra Chahal for the game and brought back Vijay Shankar and Ravindra Jadeja back to the team. Another major name to miss out from the list is Rishabh Pant, who was expected to be in the side.

They went with their regular lineup that got 4 proper bowlers and the remaining 10-over quota will be looked after by Vijay Shankar and Kedar Jadhav. All in all, India named a decent playing XI for the first ODI game.

Here are the tweets:

https://twitter.com/Imrahulsingh03/status/1101764874588192768

Why kl Rahul is warming in the bench in a gud form India should utilize that form #staraikelungal

— Muniraju. S (@MunirajuS10) March 2, 2019

@klrahul11 not in the playing side is a bit surprising. Thought he would be given some more ‘game time’ to earn his spura for the World Cup. Or is the team management already convinced after his showing in the T20s?

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 2, 2019

Dear experts England has Jason Roy and Jonny bairstow at the top . Both were dangerous and destructive strikers. They boost the scorecard more than any team . Why not India try kl rahul and Rohit Sharma at the top for destructive opening run rate ???#staraikelungal

— Gokul (@Gokul_Officl) March 2, 2019

No Kaul, Rahul or Pant….Team India focused on winning the game. Finding out more about the World Cup probables must wait for now. #IndvAus @StarSportsIndia

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) March 2, 2019

So India want to look closely at Jadeja and Vijay Shankar. Will be interesting to see where Vijay Shankar bats. If at no 7, it means his bowling will be tested more. No Pant also indicates he is lower down the pecking order.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 2, 2019

Rahul with full hopes came back and did superb in t20is and team management was not giving chances to rahul…without rayudu 4 th place is not well ?? rahul is so much better than rayudu in technique..

— abhiram krishna n (@abhiram39724667) March 2, 2019

For World Cup especially for seaming wickets..as Rahul has better technique compared to Rayudu..plus terrific fielder ?

— Shakti V Talreja (@ShakthiTalreja) March 2, 2019

My gut feeling says KL Rahul will open the batting for India in World Cup 2019.

Definitely he won't open from the start of the tournament but he will play after 4 or 5 league games but I can't guess the player who will be dropped for Rahul #INDvAUS #WorldCup2019

— Alexander Supertramp? (@IntoTheWildGuy) March 1, 2019

Why kL Rahul didn't play this match .He is good form . Pls tell this #staraikelungal

— usama (@usamauzair27) March 2, 2019

Without playing kl Rahul in ODI format in recent times , how they will take him to world cup as a backup opener??? #staraikelungal

— Tamilselvan Murugesan (@champ_tamil) March 2, 2019

Interesting to see KL rahul nkt playing today…May be he has sealed his spot un world cup…. And its time for jadeja to prove his worth @taurausvarun

— pranav nigadkar (@pranav_nigadkar) March 2, 2019

KL Rahul, R Pant are spotting the place for worldcup 2019, why the extra chances for vijay shankar @taurausvarun

— Sujith Reddy (@SujiRamasahayam) March 2, 2019

https://twitter.com/sowgandh4/status/1101756778230865922

#staraikelungal
Why @klrahul11 not include in today's 11s he is good form in t20 series give chance to play today
It's poor decision?

— @$buhari (@buhari7654) March 2, 2019

https://twitter.com/SivaSS49937395/status/1101763850469167104