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Cricket PlayersNo place for Sanju Samson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar in India's XI for 1st T20I vs Ireland chosen by Wasim Jaffer
Jaffer's selection of Hooda ahead of Samson may appear to be an eye-brow-raising decision on the surface but considering that Hooda has been a part of the Indian T20I squad in almost every series since last year's T20 World Cup, it is only logical that he gets the opportunity first.
Former India opener Wasim Jaffer made a few surprising choices in his India XI for the first T20I against Ireland at Dublin on Sunday. In the absence of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer - both in England as part of India's Test side - Jaffer went ahead with Suryakumar Yadav and Deepak Hooda as his top and middle-order options instead of Sanju Samson. The Rajasthan Royals captain and Suryakumar made a comeback to the Indian side after missing the South Africa series due to different reasons. Samson was not considered for selection while Suryakumar was injured.
Jaffer's selection of Hooda ahead of Samson may appear to be an eye-brow-raising decision on the surface but considering that Hooda has been a part of the Indian T20I squad in almost every series since last year's T20 World Cup, it is only logical that he gets the opportunity first.
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"My playing XI for tonight: 1. Ishan (wk) 2. Rutu 3. SKY 4. Hardik (c) 5. Hooda 6. DK 7. Axar 8. Harshal 9. Chahal 10. Avesh 11. Arshdeep (I'll rest Bhuvi and look at Arshdeep) What's yours? #IREvIND," tweeted Jaffer hours before the series opener.
Samson's exclusion was not the only surprise in Jaffer's XI. The former right-handed batter also decided to 'rest' vice-captain Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the first T20I and hand debut to left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh.
India are slated to play two T20Is against Ireland before the England series. Hardik Pandya is set to lead India for the first time in the absence of a number of first-XI stars like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja.
Despite fielding a second-string side against Ireland, Hardik said they would approach the short series the same way they play in a big tournament. "It's a challenge mentally, it is easier to say that we are playing against Ireland but playing for India is the biggest pride. If we want to win the World Cup, every match from here is important for us to reach the World Cup final.
"The first thing I said to all is that it doesn't matter whom we are playing, we need to focus on our own things," he stressed. "We keep the same intensity we generally keep even if we are playing the World Cup or a big series. Again it comes down to mental strength, how better you can get because it's not easy in two matches getting yourself on but at the same time we are playing for India and we have to be on our A-game which we will."
