‘Are you guys serious?’ – Fans slam team management as Suryakumar Yadav gets rested for 1st ODI

India and Sri Lanka faced off in the first ODI of the three-match series on January 10, Tuesday and it was the Lankan Lions who won the toss and elected to field first, forcing the Men in Blue to bat first. Much to the surprise of the Indian fans, the centurion in the final T20I, Suryakumar Yadav, was left out of the squad. 

Although one has to agree that Suryakumar has not been at his best in the 50-over format, many opined that he would be tried given that India have a 50-over World Cup coming at home later this year. Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper, earlier clarified ahead of the first ODI that it would be Shubman Gill who would be opening as a reward for his continued stupendous run in the format. 

We are happy to bat first: Rohit Sharma

The Indian skipper, post losing the toss, said that they were quite happy to bat first and revealed their plans to be ready for the multinational tournament, by bowling under dew. The right-handed batter said that there was dew on the ground the night before and claimed that it would be a challenge to bowl under the lights later on. 

“We are happy to bat first. We would have liked to bowl as well, it’s a good challenge. The ground was flooded with dew yesterday. There will be times where we need to bowl under dew, we got to be ready for that with the World Cup around the corner,” Rohit was quoted as saying at the toss. 

“It’s about doing the basics right, it’s important to do things differently at times. We need to keep moving in the right direction. Had a great time playing an ODI here last time, hope we’ll have another memorable game today,” he added. The Men in Blue would be hoping to get off a great start by winning the game, although many on social media claimed that Suryakumar’s absence might impact team India’s performance. 

Here’s how fans have reacted to Suryakumar Yadav being left out of playing XI for the first ODI: