After notching a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Australia in their World Cup 2023 opener, Team India raised several eyebrows by making a big change in their playing XI against Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 11. Shardul Thakur was preferred for the final XI, sidelining R Ashwin. This tactical decision, announced by Indian captain Rohit Sharma during the toss, left everyone surprised, especially the legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar.
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Engaging in a conversation with the match broadcaster, Gavaskar candidly shared his puzzlement and displeasure about Ashwin's omission.
"Once again Ashwin misses out, I don't know what he has done wrong. He is used to being left out of the team. I thought what Shami had done against them (Afghanistan) in 2019, getting a hat-trick, he would get a go," expressed Gavaskar on Star Sports, underlining the rich history Mohammed Shami shared against Afghanistan, especially his hat-trick achievement in 2019.
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Ashwin returned with an impressive bowling figure of 34/1 in his spell which was also decorated with a maiden over.
The toss saw Afghanistan's captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, putting India to field first. Rohit, elaborating on his strategy and reflecting on India's performance against Australia, mentioned, "We were looking to bat second. We saw the amount of dew last evening. Don't think the wicket will change much. Need to bowl well and need to come back and bat better. We were under pressure (against Australia) to start with, but KL and Kohli batted well, they were magnificent and we take a lot of pride in our performance. It was a good game for us, hopefully we can repeat that and keep the momentum going forward. Ashwin misses out, Shardul Thakur comes in for him."
Apart from the key shuffle of swapping Ashwin for Thakur, India retained the same playing XI, holding faith in the team that previously delivered a commendable performance against Australia.
It will be interesting to see how Shardul make the best use of his selection over Ashwin.
Afghanistan Playing XI: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
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