India, who have already stapled their spot in Asia Cup final, opted to field first after winning the toss in their last Super Four clash against Bangladesh at the R Premadasa stadium on Friday, September 15.
India skipper Rohit Sharma took everyone by surprise when he announced his playing XI for the dead rubber tie. Rohit made five surprise changes to the playing XI and which saw the absence of bigwig players. Rohit rested Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj and gave entry to Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami and Prasidh Krishna into India's playing XI. Notably, batting sensation Tilak Varma made his ODI debut.
After winning the toss Rohit revealed the reason behind benching the big players. He said that we got to give game time to some other guys who haven't played.
“We are gonna field first. It is something we haven't done in the tournament, we haven't done it under lights so it gives us an opportunity to bat under lights. The wicket honestly has got everything for everyone. Pacers who bend their back in the daytime have also got movement and there have been assistance for the spinners. Got to be brave and play your natural game. We got to give game time to some other guys who haven't played. We have made five changes. Virat, Hardik, Siraj, Bumrah and Kuldeep are out. Tilak makes his debut. Shami and Prasidh also come in. Suryakumar also gets a game,” Rohit said.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan said,"I was a bit confused to what to do and it's not a bad thing for us to bat first. The guys haven't played much and they will get opportunities. Tanzim is making his debut, so very excited for him. This is an eye-opener for us and we want to do our best before World Cup."
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, KL Rahul(w), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Litton Das(w), Tanzid Hasan, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman.
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IND vs BAN: Virat Kohli rested, Tilak Varma marks ODI debut as Rohit Sharma makes 5 changes to playing XI after electing to bowl
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