Former England skipper Michael Vaughan is surprised to see the exclusion of Suryakumar Yadav from the playing XI for the first ODI between India and England. The Mumbai batsman who recently made his T20I debut finished off with 89 runs in two innings with the highest score of 57 which also won him the man of the match award in the 4th T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

India went in with Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Hardik Pandya in the middle order which resulted in Suryakumar Yadav missing out from the playing XI. England won the toss and put India in to bat first where the Virat Kohli led side scored 317/5 at the end of 50 overs.

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Suryakumar Yadav is who I would have played – Michael Vaughan

Speaking to Cricbuzz.com, Michael Vaughan said he was surprised to see Suryakumar Yadav not make it to the playing XI after a fairly successful debut T20I series. Talking about Rishabh Pant, Vaughan said since Rishabh Pant has played non-stop cricket right from the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he wasn’t really surprised to not see Pant feature in the 1st ODI.

“India is still powerful. But I am surprised by the team selection. Rishabh Pant has played pretty much non-stop for a long period of time. So, maybe they gave him a bit of a breather, it’s not a bad thing for him. Suryakumar Yadav is who I would have played,” Vaughan said.

He further added how Suryakumar Yadav should’ve been a part of the playing XI for the first ODI on the bank of strong T20 performances in recent times for the Indian team. Michael Vaughan also stressed Suryakumar Yadav’s ability to adapt to the 50 over format but nonetheless reckons the Indian batting line-up still looks strong.

“On the back of his tremendous T20I performances, I would have gone with the ride and played him again. I think it’s so important that when a player comes in and sets the lights as he did, you carry on with him. I think he’s such a good player, he can easily adapt to the 50-over game. So, I am surprised India has gone without Suryakumar, but it is still a powerful line-up,” he added.

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