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Cricket Players'It's breaking news': Parthiv Patel reacts after India pick KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan as openers for 1st T20I
India’s decision to rest Rohit Sharma right at the start of the T20I series against England and play Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul as openers surprised former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who termed it as ‘breaking news’.
India captain Virat Kohli sprang in a surprise at the toss when he declared the name of Team India’s openers for the first T20I against England in Ahmedabad. Kohli said that Rohit Sharma will rest for the first two matches of the five-match series, which meant Shikhar Dhawan will open the batting for India along with KL Rahul.
The announcement came in a day after Kohli himself had announced that Rahul and Rohit will be India’s openers for starters while Dhawan will be the third choice.
“Dew is going to be a massive factor in the second half. Got to get into the game with the ball and restrict them. We were planning to do things like batting first in these conditions where bowling in the dew becomes a factor. It's a good way to prepare for the World Cup. The next few months will be important from a team environment. Rohit is resting for the first couple of games,” Kohli said after England won the toss and opted to field first in the opening T20I of the five match series.
India vs England live score 1st T20I
India’s decision to rest Rohit right at the start of the series surprised former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel, who termed it as ‘breaking news’.
“It is breaking news that Rohit Sharma is not playing. It gives Shikhar Dhawan a chance to get into the groove. He has been playing well in domestic cricket,” Parthiv said on Star Sports.
With Rishabh Pant back to take the keeping duties, Parthiv said it will allow Rahul to play more freely.
“Rahul has been keeping for the last two years, so he can play more freely now, express himself,” added Parthiv.
Apart from the change at the top, there were no real surprises in India’s playing XI as Shreyas Iyer was preferred over both Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan.
In the bowling front, India went ahead with three spinners in Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Yuzvendra Chahal.
The two seamers were Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur.
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal
England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
