The much-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 has arrived, and the teams are ready to go. The first game of the series is currently underway at Nagpur’s Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. The wicket here is expected to be a turner, so the teams have made preparations accordingly.
As expected Australian captain Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first on a rank turner. Rohit Sharma wanted to bat first as well but had to settle for bowling first. However, a decision made by the Indian team management has sparked a lot of debate on the internet.
The in-form batter Shubman Gill was not selected for the first match. The star batter has been in incredible form in white-ball cricket in 2023. He has already scored five centuries, including a double-hundred, in the few ODI and T20I games he has played this year.
In his place, KL Rahul will open the innings alongside captain Rohit Sharma, while Suryakumar Yadav will make his debut. Meanwhile, fans are upset the team management overlooked the in-form player who was expected to be a breakthrough performer in the series.
In the meantime, India is also playing with another debutant, KS Bharat. The wicketkeeper-batter comes in as a replacement for Rishabh Pant, who suffered severe injuries in a car accident in December. He is expected to be out of the team for at least a few months.
India currently holds the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, having won the last three series in 2017, 2018-19, and 2020-21. On the other hand, the baggy greens have not won a single series in India since 2004. They will look to turn that around this time.
India Playing XI
Rohit Sharma(c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia Playing XI
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland
Here is how Twitter reacted to Shubman Gill’s snubbing
Not to be worried brother, @ShubmanGill !! You will keep on scaling new heights in every format. ?
Yeh 'KAL' tumhara hai! ?
Tomorrow is yours..?#ShubmanGill #INDvsAUS— ??.????z? (@i_Prathit) February 9, 2023
Very hard to believe shubman Gill is not playing despite being the best young batter in the world now..!#Gills #INDvsAUS #BorderGavaskarTrophy #ViratKohli? #SuryakumarYadav
— Israr Khan (@mdisrar1117) February 9, 2023
Team India playing Behen KL Rahul over Shubman Gill:#INDvsAUS #BGT2023 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/WZGlFzilkt
— Thara Bhai Joginder (@Joginder___) February 9, 2023
@ShubmanGill feel for you bro ?? https://t.co/tiGnez0xdv
— Tarsem Bhullar (@thesambhullar) February 9, 2023
We don't have the two HERO'S #shubhmangill & #RishabhPant
Who have played amazing knocks against Aussies…?
What's the logic behind removing "Shubmangill" the inform batsman
& SKY a chance….?#BGT2023 #BorderGavaskarTrophy— Censor Buzz (@CensorBuz) February 9, 2023
@BCCI why would someone not play @ShubmanGill when he is playing so well and choose @klrahul who has been going through a bad patch
— Amit Prakash (@amit2677) February 9, 2023
? | Shubman Gill is way ahead of Surya Kumar Yadav in longer format at any position. He totally deserves to be part of this XI.
— KKR Karavan (@KkrKaravan) February 9, 2023
No matter what , @ShubmanGill had to play .. this is infuriating to see him benched. ??
— Nikhil desai (@ndniks) February 9, 2023
Why is Shubam Gill @ShubmanGill not in the playing eleven ?
Why is K L Rahul @klrahul in the playing eleven?@BCCI #INDvsAUS
— Charvik (@BhaskarVasistha) February 9, 2023
Dropping Gill for KL ?
Free wicket for Australia ?#INDvsAUS #KLRahul #ShubmanGill
— Cricket Parody (@cricket4noobs) February 9, 2023
