Despite playing a key role in India’s Asian Games gold medal victory, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been left out of the India playing XI for the first T20I against West Indies, which is taking place on Tuesday (October 6) at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.
India have made four changes to their line-up from the one that beat Pakistan in the summit clash on Saturday (October 3) in Nisshin.
Vaibhav has been replaced by Arshdeep Singh, with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma will open for India again with Ishan Kishan returning to his number three spot.
Kuldeep Yadav’s return means Ravi Bishnoi has lost his place following his sub-par displays in recent times. With Jasprit Bumrah rested for this series, Mayank Yadav has got a chance. Naman Dhir is making his debut for India in the shortest format in place of Washington Sundar, who was released from the squad in order to focus on red-ball cricket.
Why Is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Not Playing?
Vaibhav has been left out as India decided to go back to their status quo combination after playing an extra batter in the tough conditions of Japan. The 15-year-old played an important knock of 37 off 21 balls in the semi-final against Sri Lanka.
Last month, Indian head coach had made it clear that the T20 World Cup-winning opening pair of Abhishek and Samson will remain the first choice despite the teenager’s brilliant form.
Vaibhav had won the Player of the Series (POTS) on the tour of Zimbabwe but did not get a chance to play any of the three games against Afghanistan, as well as the one-off game against Japan.
India Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Yadav
West Indies Playing XI: Shai Hope(w/c), Kamil Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Springer, Shamar Joseph