England opted to bat first in the historic five-match series commenced today. This test match is the 1000th match for them and the team is really looking to make it a memorable one.
Joe Root had already announced his playing XI yesterday. Moeen along with newbie Jamie Potter was benched and this paved way for Adil Rashid as a lone spinner for the side.
However, Indian skipper Virat Kohli decided to make few changes to the squad. The exclusion of Cheteswar Pujara to accommodate both Dhawan and KL Rahul has seriously raised eyebrows among the fans.
On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav who had created an impact in the limited overs was also omitted from the playing XI.
It is to be noted that Pujara wasn”t even a part of playing XI during the Australian tour of 2014. The quality performances over the past few years have cemented a No:3 spot, but Kohli had other plans today.
Shami on his return gave crucial breakthroughs and the scoreboard now reads 216/4.
Twitter went wild after the unexpected team selections and this is how it responded to it.
So Pujara dumped. Kohli obviously keen to play Rahul and disinclined to fiddle with the opening pair of Dhawan and Vijay
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) August 1, 2018
No Pujara, no Jadeja today. Hardik Pandya must be having Kohli’s MMS or something. How does he walk into the team every time! #ENGvIND
— Noble (@Av_Noble) August 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/TriginS/status/1024659147873120256?s=19
Why pujara is not in squad this is not justice for that bastman who is most talented indian player for test now days
— शरद तिवारी (@Sharad97316133) August 1, 2018
India’s last Test series abroad started with Dhawan preferred to Rahane, then dropped. This one starts with Dhawan preferred to Pujara.
— Dilip D'Souza (@DeathEndsFun) August 1, 2018
Pujara is a good batsman but has had a terrible season with Yorkshire.
— Akshat Jaganmohan (@a_jaganmohan) August 1, 2018
I was wrong. #PujaraOut & no @imkuldeep18. Huge mistake. We should play to our strengths, not try to imitate our opponents. We don’t have four world-class pace bowlers available. We do have 3 world-class spinners & should play two of them everywhere. Shouldn’t omit match winners https://t.co/cOWCrynHkt
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) August 1, 2018
I guess Pujara's recent performances in England went against him. But this is a five test series and I will be surprised if he is not playing at some stage.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 1, 2018
If not Rohit, India finds a Rahul or a Dhawan to keep Pujara out.#EngvInd
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) August 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/vishwas_amar/status/1024647477750689792?s=19
In hindsight, had #Pujara not played #County cricket, he would have been in the playing XI today 🙂 … You cannot drop a batsman averaging over 50 in Test cricket, someone whom we call the mainstay/rock for India in Tests. Very hard on #Pujara #ENGvIND
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) August 1, 2018
Two moves, which I will call interesting. One, playing both Dhawan and Rahul and dropping Pujara. Second, bringing Ashwin into the attack early. The second one has already payed off # EngvInd
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) August 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/aadisharma1900/status/1024589838303940610
The only thing worth debating here…what made Pujara sit out? His lack of runs? Or his slow scoring rate? Or KL Rahul's red-hot form? Or Dhawan being an important left-hand option? #ENGvsIND #Pujara #Dhawan
— G. S. Vivek (@GSV1980) August 1, 2018
They have dropped #Pujara.. was the selection committee high when they were selecting the team. Why does Dhawan get so.many chances dispite not proving..Ducks in the warm match
— Shuveshek Rai 🏳️🌈 (@shuveshek) August 1, 2018
Dropping #Pujara is a big mistake….
— 🇮🇳 మధు 🇮🇳 (@madhuusv) August 1, 2018
Dropped #pujara ??? Big call from India #ENGvsIND
— Nikunj Mehta (@mehtanikkunj) August 1, 2018
Dhawan gets the obligatory first test on tour. #ENGvIND
— cricBC (@cricBC) August 1, 2018
That's a big call, leaving out Pujara. Rahul playing is the right decision though, but could he have opened? #INDvENG
— Sambit Bal (@sambitbal) August 1, 2018
So Dhawan is a better batsman than Pujara in English conditions
— Amol Karhadkar (@karhacter) August 1, 2018
https://twitter.com/GappistanRadio/status/1024591946826833920
