Indian Team Captain, Rohit Sharma hilariously forgot India’s Playing XI for the first T20I against Afghanistan. India won the toss & opted to field first. Notably, this will be the first time in 14 months that Rohit Sharma will return to T20I format. The last time Rohit Sharma played in the T20I format was back in the T20 World Cup 2022 semi-finals.
Rohit Sharma shared, “Throughout the past year, I wasn’t part of the team, but constant conversations with Rahul bhai helped me grasp our collective objectives. The primary focus is on winning, and unfortunately, players like Sanju Samson, Avesh Khan, Yashasvi Jaiswal (who isn’t feeling well), and Kuldeep are not in the playing lineup.”
Indian team captain, Rohit Sharma paused for some time to recollect the name of the third player excluded from the Playing XI, eventually recalling Kuldeep Yadav’s name. This is not the first time that Sharma has blanked out during the toss. Last year, he forgot his decision after winning the toss against New Zealand in an ODI held in Raipur.
Why Virat Kohli didn’t play in the first T20i of the IND vs AFG Series?
Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma made a comeback in T20I format after 14 months for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan. However, Kohli was not a part of the squad for the first game in Mohali, Punjab. It is the first bilateral series between Afghanistan & India which will act as a preparatory ground for the Indian team for the T20 World Cup 2024. Head coach Rahul Dravid in the pre-match press conference informed that Virat Kohli will miss the first game due to personal reasons.
Dravid confirmed about Virat Kohli’s availability for the next two matches of the three-match series. The Head Coach further said that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma will be opening the innings for India in the series opener on Thursday. However, Jaiswal was not a part of the team as Rohit at the toss that he was not feeling well which meant Shubman Gill will open the innings with him once again.
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